Full Metal Magic?
by Sil'vinya
Summary: Ed is sent on a new mission, under the direct orders of Colonel Mustang. The two of them are to travel to Britain to aid in apprehending a dangerous criminal. Mustang is to work with the local ministry where Ed is to work undercover at a..? Magic school?
1. Is This Some Kind of Joke?

Full Metal Magic?

AN/Ok I'm going through this to fix up some mistakes I have noticed through much of this and others that helpful reviewers have pointed out. Also, I have just finished watching Brotherhood and decided that I want this to follow that storyline so there a few little points that I need to tweek.

One thing to note is the setting for this story. It follows along with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for the main story arc, there have been a few questions about the world though and instead of making up some elaborate reason that amestris is hidden from the rest of the world and time travel and all that this is how I'm going to work the blending of the two worlds. I'm treating both worlds as a single fantasy world instead of trying to slot them into the real world. The same laws apply from the Harry Potter universe in that the muggles do not know the existence of magic. On the flip side the wizards don't know much about the Amestris form of Alchemy either. Amestris is mainly avoided by the rest of the world as it is unstable politically, much of the countries keep mostly to themselves. Three main forms of power in this world are, British magic, Amestris Alchemy and Xing Alchehestry. Throughout the story Ed will be learning about the other two and finding out the links and differences between the three.

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I own nothing in regards to Full Metal Alchemist or Harry Potter, the names characters and places belong to their respective owners and so does _part_ of the plot.

**Ch 1: Is this some kind of joke?**

"Hey, Match head. What the hell is up with this?" Colonel Roy Mustang, aka the Flame Alchemist, didn't even bother to look over the ever present pile of paperwork on his desk when the military's resident hothead stormed into his office, without knocking, as usual.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, is there a draft in here?" he asked mildly, his stoic expression showed a very, _very_ faint twitch of amusement as he counted in his head, _five, four, three, two, one, queue explosion_.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING IGNORING ME YOU BASTARD. I ASKED YOU A QUESTION."

Lifting his head at last to glance down at the fuming, diminutive alchemist, he raised one of his eyebrows slightly, "Oh, Fullmetal, I didn't see you there. Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Ed's eyebrow twitched and Mustang silently applauded when the youngster managed to contain his usual tirade at the jab at his height. Instead, he held out a crisp looking folder, the type that usually contained written orders. "Is this some type of joke?" he practically hissed through clenched teeth, causing his superior to blink, the kid was actually angry. Not his usual, hothead reaction but out and out coldly furious.

"I'm not sure what you are getting at, Fullmetal. Is there something wrong with your orders?"

Ed threw the folder down on his desk, scattering some of the papers already there, "Now, I know that I am the youngest State Alchemist, but I don't see how that makes it right to be ridiculed like this. I have better things to do then be led around by the military and being made a laughing stock." Mustang retrieved the folder and thumbed through its contents. He knew what it said of course, and he had a fair idea what the problem was, it was just interesting seeing the hothead actually steaming. "Every thing seems to be in order, what seems to be the problem?" He asked mildly as he set the folder back on his desk.

Edwards eyes went flat, "Magic, Mustang? Wizards and Witches? How old do you think I am?"

Ignoring the almost overpowering urge to leap on _that_ particular question, Mustang shook his head. "Really, Fullmetal. You would think that after everything you have seen and done in your _short_ life, that you would be more open minded." He smirked slightly as Ed's eyebrow twitched again at the jab, but apparently this matter offended him more then his height issues.

"As I said, I have more important things I could be doing." He stated coldly and turned on his heal to storm from the office.

"Major Elric, you are not dismissed." Roy Mustangs suddenly cold order and the use of his military rank stopped the young Alchemist in his tracks. He turned to face the desk again and saluted smartly. "Sir?" he almost snarled. Mustang barely held back from sighing. Of all the times to have a subordinate that was glaringly resentful of his military ties, "Take a seat Major. It looks as though I need to explain a few things to you."

As the small Alchemist took a seat across from his, he noted with a faint frown that the kid was limping slightly. Filing that away he turned his attention to the file in front of him, reading aloud.

_"Major Edward Elric aka The Fullmetal Alchemist. Mission brief, as of 0700hrs on the 31st of June, you have been hereby enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Where you will pose as a student for the duration of the school year. Whilst there you will gather intelligence on the usage of magic in it's many forms as well as act as backup in the case of outside interference. Whilst in Britain, you shall be under the direct orders of Colonel Roy Mustang aka The Flame Alchemist, and you shall report your findings directly to him. All other information will be made available to you in your mission brief._ I think that fairly covers the outline of your mission. I take it you have an issue with the thought of magic." He smirked rather evilly at the disgusted look on the younger Alchemists face, "I assure you, Fullmetal. Magic does indeed exist."

Ed's gold eyes snapped up to meet his, his face going pale. "Sir, I am an Alchemist, a scientist, as you are. The very thought of magic is ludicrous. It goes against all natural law."

Mustang merely shook his head. "Much as I hate to admit it, I agree with you in principal. But the simple fact remains that magic does indeed exist. To tell you the truth, one of the main reasons were are being sent to Britain in the first place is that there is an extremely dangerous man on the loose, known as a dark wizard and as corny as it sounds, this guy is apparently the real deal. I have been asked to help out their government as a show of good will, and to offer the skill of a state Alchemist in apprehending this criminal. The reason I want you within the school is because there is apparently a connection between this man and one of the students there, so I want you to keep an eye on things from the inside as well as gather information about how magic works." He flashed his usual smirk, although this one was more serious then usual, "You never know when the information might come in handy."

Edward shook his head, his expression frankly incredulous, "You know Colonel. If I didn't know better, I would think you were nuts. Wait I do think you're nuts, but that's beside the point. I still don't see where this is of much benefit to us. We have enough worries here as it is without getting involved in tracking down trouble makers in a country half the world away."

Mustang leaned back in his chair, his smirk taking on a faintly malicious edge, "And if I was to give you extra incentive?" he asked. He could tell that Ed was suspicious. Not that he could really blame him after all the times he had managed to swindle the Elrics one way or another.

After a moment of silence, Ed's natural impatience set in and he frowned, "Well Mustang? What makes this worth the time?"

"Tell me, Fullmetal, have you ever heard of the name Nicolas Flamel?" Edward immediately snapped to attention and lent forward on his chair, his expression suddenly intense, _"Got him."_ Mustang thought with satisfaction, "Yes I am talking about _that_ Flamel, it seems as though the man not only made a study of Alchemy but that he dabbled in magical theory as well, here's the part that should interest you however, the man's lab partner on the wizard side of things happens to be the headmaster of Hogwarts. I am sure there is also numerous books in that library of theirs, there has to be something there worth the look for a researcher such as yourself."

Ed's expression was still doubtful and suspicious but that was far out weighed by the possibility of a fresh lead on the philosophers stone. "Alright Mustang, I'll go along with you on this one."

Remembering something, the Colonel suddenly felt real uncomfortable, "Just one thing, Ed. I'm afraid that Alphonse will have to sit out on this one. I am afraid he would attract too many unwanted questions where we are going." His heart unexpectedly clenched at the faintly lost look that swept through the Fullmetal Alchemist's eyes, suddenly and blatantly reminding him that, for all his abilities and accomplishments, for everything he had achieved and experienced, this boy was still only a child of fifteen. Seeing the pain in those eyes he amended his thoughts, maybe not a child. The Elric brother's had all but given up on childhood the day they burnt down their house. "I'm sorry Ed, but there is nothing else we can do. He would attract too much attention and you know it. As it is we are going to have to be careful to keep your automail a secret."

The unexpected sympathy in his voice got through and Ed glanced up at him in surprise, his emotions once again in his control. Catching his eye, the younger man nodded slightly, "I understand sir. If I may, I would like some time to speak to my brother and to visit Winry, then I shall be at your disposal." For all his compliance, there was a trace of bitterness as he said the last word.

Mustang just nodded, "I noticed you limping, how much damage this time?"

This time, Ed's expression morphed into his usual annoyed scowl, complete with twitching eye, "That last mission you sent me on was a crock, and then that idiot Armstrong managed to knock me into the wall when we got back. I did some damage to the knee when we were chasing that stupid chimera and I was trying to take it easy until I could get it adjusted but then that nit wit had to go and break it properly. Winry is going to kill me."

Mustangs usual smirk was back in place and he lent back in his chair, "You have until tomorrow morning, Fullmetal. I am taking you to meet your new headmaster." He got the response he was hoping for, at the mention of a headmaster, meaning back to lessons, something he hadn't had to attend, other then those given by his Alchemy teacher, since he was a young child. His face flushed then paled and his whole body shuddered. Without another word, he limped from the office, his left leg chinking noticeably as he walked.

Chuckling to himself, Mustang slung his feet up onto his desk only to freeze as he felt the cold muzzle of a gun brush against his neck, _shit_ he had forgotten Hawkeye was in the room, "Sir, may I remind you that you are going to be away from HQ for a whole year, that means you only have the next few days in which to catch up in your paperwork before you leave. I suggest that you get to work." Her tone of voice was military correct and precise, the subordinate respectfully advising her superior officer. The effect was totally spoiled by the fact that she was blatantly holding said superior officer at gunpoint. Sighing in defeat, he dropped his feet to the floor and picked up his pen, maybe this trip would be a good thing after all.

At least it got him away from the paperwork for twelve months.

...

_AN/ Welcome to any new readers, and as I said above, I am going over the chapters to fix mistakes. Look for an AN in italics on the page, it will let you know if I have gotten to that chapter yet. Any that I have gone through that you still find errors, please let me know. Hope you enjoy the ride._

_AN/ Thanks goes to Allison, I missed those errors completely, cheers._

See Ya


	2. You are going Where?

_AN/ This chapter has been edited, let me know if you find any typos I miss. Enjoy._

Disclaimer: Not mine (Unfortunately)

**Ch 2: You are going where?**

Ed could feel his brothers eyes on him as he slumped back on his bed in the rooms their shared when at HQ, he could also hear the muffled giggles Al was trying to suppress, he made a sour face. It had to be wrong somewhere for a huge suit of steel armor to giggle, I mean really.

"Did you say magic school?" Al's hollow voice choked out.

At Ed's nod he started to laugh out loud, growling in annoyance, Ed threw a pillow at him, "Look, I know it sounds stupid but the Colonel is convinced that magic is real and you know how he is. He has decided to assign me to this mission and come hell or high water he is going to make me go whether I like it or not." He looked over at his brother and smiled, "Besides this is the first good lead we have had in a while on the stone. You never know. If this magic crap is real, maybe they have a different formula to make the thing."

Al stooped laughing and considered his statement. It always amazed Ed how much emotion his brother displayed with that helmet of his.

"You're right." He said after a moment, his voice thoughtful, "Just because we are not familiar with something is no reason for us to discount it. After all, when we started out we were told that the creation of homunculi was impossible and look how that one turned out."

Ed's expression grew grim at his brothers statement, "Yeah. Well, I suppose I can stand it for a year. You have to admit, we have seen some pretty unbelievable stuff. The only thing I really don't like about all this is that I have to leave you behind."

A hollow sigh sounded out and there was a clank as Al sat forward on his own bed, "Don't worry brother, I will be alright here. Winry has decided to stay for a while, she found some automail books in the library she wanted to study and Mustang gave her permission. Besides, Major Armstrong is here and the others. You just make sure that you look after yourself without me. And no killing anyone for calling you short, you're supposed to keep a low profile while you are there."

Ed sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I know." Sitting up he stretched his real arm over his head and grimaced, "I suppose I had better go see Winry if I'm going to get her to fix this knee before I go." Rising from the bed, he snatched up his red coat and slipped his arms into his sleeves, "You want'ta come?"

Al waved one of his hands negligibly, "No, I think I will stay here. I don't want you to have to work out any more dents I received from flying wrenches if I can help it."

Ed grimaced at the reminder of what he was likely to face, "Alright. I'll see you later then."

The rooms that had been given to Winry weren't too far away from their own, she had been set up in the Alchemists wing so as to make it easier for her if Ed needed her in a hurry while she was there. Reaching her door, Edward prepared to duck as he knocked. There was a brief moment of silence before the door was wrenched open by a rather irate looking blond, "Alright Ed, Get in here now. Al told me what happened." She grabbed his arm before he could protest and dragged him into the room, all but throwing him onto a surgical table someone had managed to dig up for her.

"Heh heh, no flying wrenches today Winry?" he asked nervously as she went to fetch her tools while he pulled off his boots and stripped down to his boxers and tank top.

She all but danced on her way back, "Nuh, uh. It wasn't your fault this time, besides, I am having too much fun here to complain about a little maintenance work." Coming back over to him, she heaved her tool kit up beside him, "The Colonel has given me access to some of the material in the library so I got some real neat books to read while I'm here."

Sighing in relief, Ed hoisted himself up onto the table, "I'm glad you're going to be here a while." Looking up at him curiously, he pulled a face, "I've been called out on another mission, but this time I have to leave Al here, so I was hoping you could keep him company while you are here."

She blinked in surprise before pulling out a screwdriver, "Sure I'll look after him, but where are you going that you can't take him with you? I thought one of the stipulations you made to the military was that they were not allowed to separate you."

Shaking his head, he winced slightly as she loosened some of the screws in his knee. He must have damaged some of the wires connecting to his nerves for him to be able to feel pain, "Yeah, I know. But this one could lead to some invaluable information. Not only for the military, but for us as well. The only thing is I don't know whether to believe in all this magic crap or not."

Winry paused in her examination to raise an eyebrow at him and he could feel his face heat with a faint blush. "Magic?" she asked disbelievingly.

Resigned to repeating the reaction when he had told Al, he sighed, "Yeah magic. Apparently in a couple other countries, instead of Alchemy being practiced they have made a study of magic. Supposedly they have no idea how Alchemy works. So Mustang is sending me undercover to this magic school in the hopes I can gather information about this magic to see how much of it is actually fact and also to find out some of how it works. In the mean time he is supposedly helping their government out tracking down some dangerous criminal of theirs who is supposedly some all powerful evil wizard." He shrugged his shoulders, really, when he came to think of it, most of what he and Al had been doing over the past few years sounded more far fetched in some ways.

Winry simply shook her head and went back to work, "Magic." She muttered, "Alchemy, science, books. I don't think there is a single thing that you do that I would consider normal." She paused for a moment, "Except for this of course." She patted his leg and he rolled his eyes.

"Automail freak. So, what's the damage?" he asked curiously.

Shaking her head, she poked around at the workings in his knee for a moment before sitting back, "Not as bad as it could be. There are a few bent sprockets and one of the hydraulic feeds is leaking a little but it shouldn't take more then an hour or two to fix."

Ed sighed with relief and lent back on his elbows as she worked. "So Mustang gave you access to the library did he? How did you manage that?"

Not taking her eyes off her work she snorted, "How do you think. I told him that if he wanted you in working order he had better lend me a hand at finding the most efficient information I could get my hands on." Here she actually snickered softly, "And I threatened to dent his head for him as well. That lieutenant Hawkeye was the one that told him to let me look."

Thinking of the trigger happy Hawkeye, Ed remembered the look on her face as she was standing over the Colonel in his office earlier and he laughed, "I guess Mustang isn't having the best day. If I miss my guess, he is being held at gun point to finish his paper work before we leave tomorrow." With a chuckle he wondered idly if Mustang was bringing Hawkeye with him, it would certainly keep things interesting anyway and she would keep him in line.

It took Winry just over an hour to fix the damage to his knee and to run an over haul on his arm as well to make sure everything was in working order. After he dressed himself again she stopped him before he could leave, "I have something for you. Seeing as this mission is going to take you away for a while and knowing you, you're going to get into trouble so I want you to take this with you." She lifted a flat leather case out from under the workbench. Lifting it onto the bench top, she snapped open the steal buckles to reveal a compact travel tool kit. It had everything he could possibly need to make sure his automail was in working order, "I also included the blue prints of your arm and leg." She mentioned, pulling out some neatly folded sheets of paper, "That way, if anything goes wrong you can fix it yourself, as long as it is not too serious."

She smiled over at him and he nodded gravely, seeing the worry in her eyes, "Thank you Winry. You're a life saver." He rested his hand on her shoulder in gratitude and she sighed. After a moment she regained her composure and she grabbed at his braid, "You just make sure you look after yourself. I don't want to have to replace these limbs again until you outgrow them, if you ever do. Do you hear me?"

He yelped at the pull at his hair then grinned at her comment, "Heh, it's a lot funnier when I get that one from your Gran. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

After leaving Winry's room, Ed made his way back to the room he shared with his brother. He had no idea of what he was getting into this time, but one thing was for sure. If he was to leave in the morning to meet this new 'headmaster' of his, he had better get some sleep.

_AN/ not many typos in this one to fix, heh_


	3. What? Magic is real?

_AN/ This chapter has been edited for mistakes. You know the drill, let me know if you find the ones I messed._

Disclaimer: (Still not mine.)

**Ch 3: What! Magic _is_ real?**

"OI, MUSTANG WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THIS CRAP?" The Colonel sighed as a sense of deja vu swept over him. Sure enough his door was shoved open by an irate, minute Alchemist. But unlike yesterday, this time Mustang took notice. The fuming young man was dressed in full military uniform.

Stepping around his desk, Mustang stalked slowly around the faintly growling youngster, a smirk spreading across his face, "Well, well. Looks as though we finally got you dressed as you should be." He remarked at last.

Ed snarled at him, "What is the big idea of rigging me out in this thing?" he hissed, "I thought we agreed that I wouldn't have to wear one of these and then you send Hawkeye around to tell me that if I don't wear it she will turn me into a tea strainer."

Raising his hand to stop his rant, Mustang lent back against his desk, "It is simple, Fullmetal. We will be receiving a visitor momentarily, a representative of the people whom we are supposedly going to assist. As this is an official military matter, and you are, in this case, representing the military, as much as you hate it. That means you wear the uniform."

Glaring at his superior, Ed's eye twitched in annoyance. Reaching up he tugged at the high neck of his formal jacket, "Not only do I have to openly wear the damn uniform, but I have to meet with some representative?" he asked sourly, "I thought we were going to see this headmaster I am supposed to have and seeing as though England _is_ kind of a long way away, I thought we would be leaving."

Mustang shook his head, although he was rather bemused by the sight of the fiery blond decked out in full regalia, "I don't entirely understand it myself, Fullmetal, but we were sent a message saying that someone would meet us here at 0700hrs and that we were to wait for them. In regards to the uniform, at least now you look the part." He was far to distracted to make any smart comments about where they possibly found a uniform to fit him, although one or two of them did occur to him.

He was about to ask anyway, when there was a faint _pop_ from the middle of the room and a tall, thin man dressed in what appeared to be a set of elaborate purple robes suddenly appeared, out of thin air, right in the middle of Mustangs office.

Neither Alchemist paused. There was a sharp _clap_ and Ed slammed his palms onto the floor and in the same instant there came the _snap_ of Mustangs gloves.

A bright blue array flashed across the floor and a cage transmuted from the floor tiles encased the stranger along with a wall of flame. At the same time, the stranger reacted as well and there was a sharp cry of what sounded like "_Protego_" and a shimmering blue shield surrounded the man, within the cage until he saw that he wasn't harmed by either attack and he let his arm fall, the shield blinking out. "Colonel Mustang I presume?" he asked mildly.

Mustang let the fire die out and gestured for Ed to fix his floor. Staring suspiciously at the man, Ed clapped his hands again and transmuted the cage back into the floor tiles, the visitor watching in interest as he did so.

"Well that was fairly impressive." He commented, smoothing down his robes and slipping what looked like a _wand_ of all things beneath his clothing. "I suppose I should have known not to apparate directly here, I forgot that you have been through some battles lately, not an entirely intelligent thing to do, startle an experience fighter while they are still on edge. I suppose I should introduce myself, my name is Aaron Swiftleaf, Professor Dumbledore sent me in order to be you transportation I suppose you could say."

Mustang recovered with his usual swiftness, not a single emotion flitted across his stoic expression, although on the inside he was a little shaken at this sudden proof of real magic. Glancing over at Ed, who was suspiciously silent, he swore he could almost see the hair standing up on the boys neck.

"I see, well I suppose that we should prevail on the Professors generosity. I was wondering how were getting there on such short notice, but I suppose everything has been taken care of."

The odd man nodded sharply and reached into his robes again, this time pulling out an old newspaper, "If you would both step over here please and take hold of this, then we can be on our way." Raising an eyebrow, Mustang stepped up to the strange fellow and reached out to take the paper into his gloved hand, a second white glove joined him after a pause and he looked down into Ed's carefully blank face and nearly laughed at the anger, confusion and apprehension that flitted through the younger Alchemists eyes, "So, what are we supposed to do n.." he was cut off a sharp tug suddenly yanked somewhere in the vicinity of his belt buckle and the room blurred before his eyes.

When everything came back into focus, all he could do was stare. They were no longer in his office, that was for sure.

He was distracted by a startled oath as Ed suddenly collapsed, his leg giving out from under him. The small Alchemist stretched out his left hand to catch himself but pitched over as his right didn't follow, dumping him rather unceremoniously on his side. Swearing sulphurously, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and glared at his offending limbs, "Mustang, a hand please." He growled. Raising an eyebrow at actually being asked for help, he reached down to haul the Ed to his feet and he noticed with mild alarm that the kid's automail arm and leg hung uselessly as he tried to steady himself on his real leg.

"Is there some sort of problem?" a soft voice queried. Glancing around the strange room, Mustang caught sight of a tall, old man with half moon spectacles perched on his nose and a long white beard and hair. He was also dressed in an elaborate set of gold trimmed blue robes and an odd hat that resembled a nightcap.

"You are Professor Albus Dumbledore I take it?" Mustang guessed, the old man smiled softly and came out from behind his desk. He flicked his hand and a chair slid across the floor until it came to a stop not far from where they stood, "That is correct, and you would be Colonel Roy Mustang and Major Edward Elric. But we will get back to that in a moment, it seems as though your young companion is in some distress. Should I call for our medical staff?"

Mustang snorted as he helped Ed over to the chair that the old man had provided, "A mechanic would be more useful." He replied cryptically. Sitting Ed down into the chair, he looked carefully into the strangely quiet boys face. "Fullmetal, what is the problem?" he asked sternly, but there was an underlay of worry in his tone. Ed's face was faintly green from the mode of transportation but his expression was tense.

"Something is wrong sir." Reaching up, he unfastened his jacket and struggled to pull it off. When Mustang saw that he was having trouble with his automail arm, he helped him wordlessly.

Underneath his uniform, Ed wore a white tank top in place of his usual black one and it exposed his metal arm to the shoulder, a sight which caused both wizards in the room to stare in curiosity. Ignoring their presence for the moment, Ed grabbed hold of his unresponsive wrist and lifted the hand to study it carefully, "I don't know what happened sir, it just isn't functioning, neither is the leg." He glared up at his superior, "You do realize of course if there is any damage, I am telling Winry it is entirely your fault. Maybe she will use your head for target practice for a change."

Mustang's eye twitched but his reply was cut short by the soft voice of the old wizard, light with curiosity, "I take it the lad's limbs are mechanical?" both Alchemists turned to look at him and saw a thoughtful look on his face, "I think I know what the problem might be. Did you say that they were no longer functioning?" Ed nodded, his face still unreadable. Mustang had a good idea why. He was in a situation where all the rules he had followed in his life no longer seemed to apply, not only that but the support of his mechanical limbs, not only the physical, but the emotional seeing as they were crafted by one of his few close friends, suddenly wasn't so stable any more. He had no idea how he was supposed to react.

The wizards face relaxed in a rather sheepish smile, "Yes, well I am afraid that this one is my fault. If I had known about this I could have warned you so we could fix the problem. You see, within the walls of this school, mechanical devises do not function, it is part of the schools defenses." Both Alchemists eyes went wide at this and they snatched their pocket watches out. Both let out a sigh when they saw that they were still running, Professor Dumbledore chuckled, "Not to worry, clockwork devises still work, it is just mechanical ones that don't. The ones that rely on some form of, uh, electricity I believe is the word. If you give me a moment, I should be able to modify the spell slightly, so as young Mr Elric here can move."

He closed his eyes for a moment and suddenly Ed let out a relieved sigh as he clenched his right hand and lifted his left leg. "Well that's a relief." He said under his breath, but Mustang heard him and had to hold off shaking his head in surprise. Ed's normal response to being confronted with something out of his understanding was to become defensive and suspicious. This experience must have severely rattled him for him to be this quiet.

Deciding to leave the kid time to compose himself, Mustang turned his attention to the other men in the room. "I don't think I'll state the obvious, taking into account out mode of transportation, but I have to tell you that this irrefutable proof of magic has both of us a little shaken."

The younger wizard blinked in surprise, "But what was that you used on me when I appeared in your office? The kid had me slapped into a cage made from the _floor tiles_ and you had me surrounded in flames in seconds. If that wasn't magic, what the heck was it?"

Mustang turned his expressionless face on the man and raised an eyebrow, "That was Alchemy, science, not magic. To tell you the truth, we had believed magic to be a mere fairytale until recently."

Dumbledore chuckled and waved Mustang into another seat as he went back around his desk once more, "I see, I do apologize for startling the two of you with all of this. I should have realized. I have to tell you that your form of Alchemy is all but a legend here to tell the truth. The only Alchemy practiced is centered around chemical reaction more then anything else, those who could preform actual transfiguration through Alchemic reaction have long since passed into stories. In fact, that is one of the main reasons I contacted your government. The situation here is becoming critical and in all honesty the ministry is not doing a good job at handling things. An outsider might just be able to see solutions where we cannot and an outsider with powers unlike anything we have would be more then valuable." Turning to look at Ed, who had by now recovered from his shock and was listening intently, "I was hoping to put you amongst the students, as back up in a way. Just as the Colonel in the ministry, I hope to have a fresh set of eyes overlooking things within the school walls as well. I understand that you are searching for information on the philosophers stone?" at Ed's cautious nod he smiled, "Well, I can allow you access to the restricted section in the library. There you will find research notes and lab transcriptions on all that I and Nicolas researched, I just have to ask you to be careful with the information you find in those books. There is a reason that area is restricted for student access."

Mustang had to bite back hard on the laugh that nearly erupted at the hungry, calculated look that came over Ed's face. That boy never changed, set him on the scent and he was as relentless as a bloodhound.

A thoughtful look crossed Ed's face and he frowned slightly, "There is something I have to ask sir." He said cautiously and Mustang nearly swallowed his tongue at the polite note in his voice. Looking around the room, he fastened his eyes on one of the curious paintings of what he assumed were past headmasters sleeping in their chairs, was that painting moving? He didn't think laughing at Ed would be at all politic at present.

"I mean, you are putting me in school, undercover, as a student correct?" at Dumbledore's nod, he continued, "How am I going to pull that off? I can't do magic."

Dumbledore chuckled, "I don't expect you to. I was thinking of putting in down as an exchange student from an Alchemy academy, sent here as research trip to study the theory behind magic. I'll have you placed into classes where you can achieve the same results with your alchemy as the students are with their magic if you put your mind to it. That way you will not be idle all the time, it is a plausible reason for you to be here even though you are not a wizard and it also gives you chance to use your skills in new situations. After all, what is the use of attending a school if you do not learn anything?" Mustang choked at the rather sour look of resignation on the younger alchemists face. It was a good plan, and Ed knew it, that didn't mean he liked it. Dumbledore intimidated him enough that he didn't protest however.

"Now, I think that we should get down to where we are going to post you two."

_AN/ Just a short note here, the fact that Mechanical devices do not work within the grounds is mentioned in book four I believe. There were a couple concerns from some reviews about this section, it will be explained more in a later chapter, but if you think about it, Hermione mentions that Muggle 'bugging' devices would not work within the school grounds but if I remember correctly they have a clock tower. So I assume that the spell disrupts electricity, which old clockwork does not use, even in the form of batteries_._This might be obvious to most of you but as I said there were a few concerns pressed. A further explanation of how they effect Ed's limbs is coming later._

See Ya_  
_


	4. Gryffindor Tower

_AN/ Yep, done this chapter too. Feel free to point out mistakes I missed. Thanks._

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.

Ch 4: Gryffindor Tower

Ed looked around the round tower room that was to be home for the next twelve months and sighed. It was going to be off not having Al there with him. They had hardly been separated their whole lives and even less so since they lost their mother.

The large beds were certainly a far cry from the bunks they were given at HQ, that was for sure. The huge four posters were hung around with heavy red curtains and each one had a clothes trunk at the end emblazoned with a persons name in gold lettering.

The trip up here had certainly been interesting to say the least. As they had walked, Dumbledore had given him a running commentary. "I think we will put you in Gryffindor, after all, the students we want you to keep close to are part of that house. As you can see, you will have to watch where you are going when you are walking, the stairs keep changing, some of the hallways change direction and there is a resident poltergeist that is likely to give you trouble."

The halls were certainly hair raising. The paintings on the walls didn't seem to want to stay in one place for one thing and he would swear he caught sight of a ghost at one stage. Geez, and he thought his life was complicated enough, this place certainly topped everything off. Maybe he was just going crazy, that would certainly explain the almost irresistible urge he had to burst out into hysterical giggles.

He hoped that he would be assigned a guide when school started because by the time they reached a large painting of a rather fat woman dressed in a frilly pink dress, he was quite lost. Not only that, but he nearly jumped out of his skin when the woman turned to face them and _spoke_, "Password." She demanded drolly. The headmaster straightened and thought for a moment, "Gryffindor's password." He muttered to himself, "Oh yes, I remember, _Dragonsbreath_."

The woman in the painting nodded politely and swung out on hidden hinges. The only thing keeping Ed from letting loose on that giggle was the fact that Mustang was walking beside him, and there was no way he was going to give that bastard the satisfaction of seeing him flustered.

Stepping through the hole that the portrait hid, they entered a large, cosy room with comfortable looking couches, a huge fire place and several tables surrounded by chairs. "Welcome to the Gryffindor common room." Dumbledore told them grandly, "This is where the students spend most of their time outside lessons if they are not in the library or out in the grounds. If you will follow me, I will take you up to the dorms." He pointed to a set of stairs that led up and to the right, "That leads to the girls dorm, I wouldn't recommend trying to go up there. There are a few nasty traps set if you were to try. This leads to the boys section." He led them up to the left.

At the top of the stairs was a round tower room with six, huge four poster beds, the number seeming much more then this room should actually fit by law of nature, according to Ed's rational mind. A section of his brain that was becoming more and more befuddled the longer they were in this blasted castle.

The names on the chests at the foot of each one read, _Seamus, Dean, Ronald, Harry_ and_ Neville_. The headmaster waved his hand over the one blank one and _Edward_ crawled across the shiny surface in gold letters. "These boys have been together for five years now, but I don't think they will mind the extra member in their midst." Turning back to his two rather flustered guests, he smiled in apology, "I know this is rather rushed, but at the moment, we are running low on time. Once I get you organized I have a few things to take care of before I collect our _subject_ pupil." He glanced rather pointedly at the trunk labeled _Harry_ and Ed got his point. "Then I have to see if I can collect us a new teacher before the term starts. Now, I will take the two of you to the leaky cauldron. From there you can organize where you need to go. Colonel Mustang, I believe that the ministry is aware of your arrival, there should be someone there to meet you. As for you Mister Elric, you can head down Diagon Alley to collect your school supplies and then I want you to stay at the leaky cauldron until start of term in a weeks time. The publican, Tom, is aware of some of your situation, he knows you are coming and he also knows to organize transport for you to the train station on the first of September."

The headmaster led them through the halls once again and Ed tried to memorize their route but gave up after two hidden doors jumped out of their way as they approached, leaving him with the feeling that they had just walked back the way they had come at least a dozen times.

Eventually they strode down a set of stairs that led to a large entrance hall, half way down they were warned to step over a certain step, their guide explaining it was a trick one and if they stood on it, it would grip their foot.

Shaking his head to try and keep a grip on his sanity, he glanced rather wildly over at Mustang, wondering if the older man was having the same difficulties. Not surprisingly, however, the Colonel's face was as expressionless as ever. _Damn_.

Drawn up out side was an old looking carriage drawn by the most hideous looking creature Ed had ever had the misfortune to see. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Mustang staring at the thing in horrified distaste. Turning to the headmaster, he saw the man eyeing the two of them speculatively, "What the heck kind of screw up Chimera is that?" he asked rather roughly. This morning had been one shock after another and he had just about reached his breaking point.

Dumbledore didn't seem to take offense at his course tone, he merely glanced over at the creature and sighed, "It is not a Chimera." His eyes looked rather haunted for a moment, before he shrugged it off and gestured to the carriage, "Never mind. Come along, we need to get outside the castle walls, then I can apparate us directly to the Leaky Cauldron, that will save us a phenomenal amount of time."

Taking one more look at the hideous mount, Ed climbed up into the carriage, followed by Mustang.

As they clattered along a thought occurred to him and he turned to his superior officer, "Hang on sir, if I am supposed to buy these books and things, how am I supposed to pay for it?"

Mustang sat back in his chair and loosely folded his arms, "Not to worry, I have organized for all funds to be directly withdrawn from your research budget. After all that is what you are doing here. All we have to do is find somewhere that can wire the amount through and there shouldn't be any troubles." A smirk grew across his face, "Except on the other end. The paperwork for this little venture is going to be phenomenal, I just hope Lieutenant Hawkeye enjoys."

Ed actually snickered, this was home ground, he knew where he stood in this argument, "You do realize sir that she is going to shoot you when she sees you again. Actually, I think you should bring her here. She would be of a great help to you and then she can't put all your paperwork in a huge box to give to you for Christmas." He snickered again, this time evilly, "Then again, that might be amusing. I'd like to see you try and weasel out of it with her gun resting in your hair."

Mustangs face turned sour and he glared at him, "You know, Fullmetal, sometimes I wish I could barbecue you once and for all."

Ed sat back more comfortably and folded his hands behind his head, "Yeah, yeah. What ever Mr Flame Alchemist. Just think, if you crisp me then there won't be any little alchemist lackey you can send off on crock missions. You'd die of boredom if I wasn't there for you to lecture."

Mustang's evil smirk appeared, "_Little_ alchemist lackey?" he asked mildly, "So you have finally admitted it have you?"

Realizing he had just put his foot in it, Ed glared at the older man, but couldn't find a suitable come back, after all they _were_ his words. With a snarl of annoyance he looked away. Mustang just snorted and turned his attention out the window.

Looking over at Dumbledore, Ed caught the old man's twinkling blue eye and grinned at the small smile on the old man's lips.

"So, Professor, is there somewhere I can get those funds transferred? It is going to be difficult to get these supplies otherwise."

The old wizard merely smiled rather serenely, "Not to worry, the currency exchange center at Gringotts will have no trouble organizing that all for you. All you need to so is speak to one of the goblins on staff."

Ed blinked at him, '_eh heh, Goblins?'_ he thought to himself, '_Great, and I thought we had seen as much weirdness as was possible to handle for any sane person._'

It didn't take them long to reach the school gates. Once the carriage pulled to a stop, they all climbed out to find themselves on a train platform. "This is where the Hogwart's Express will bring you next week. Now though, if you would both step up here and take hold of my sleeve." Sighing in resignation, Ed took hold of one of his flowing sleeves as Mustang took the other, "You know sir," He looked up into his superior's face, "If you weren't here, I'd swear I'd lost my mind."

Mustang's quiet chuckle surrounded them as everything seemed to vanish.

_AN/ I fixed up this a little bit as the first time round I forgot Seamus and Dean were in the same room as well, heh. Oops._

See Ya


	5. Signs of Fear

_AN/ This chapter has been edited._

Disclaimer: As everyone knows, not mine. (Oh well.)

**Ch 5: Signs of Fear**

When everything decided to solidify once more, Mustang glanced around, ignoring the ill feeling from their mode of transportation. They were in what appeared to be a rather shabby looking room of an inn, if he didn't miss his guess.

There was a rickety looking four poster bed, a dusty set of drawers and a rather wobbly wardrobe and that was pretty much it.

Letting go of Dumbledore's sleeve, he had to hide a smirk at the green tinge and rather glazed expression that Ed wore. He had to admit, the kid was holding up better then he expected. After all they had seen this morning, he had thought Ed would be all out gibbering by now.

"If you two will follow me." Dumbledore nodded politely to them and opened the door. Glancing again at Ed to make certain the young Alchemist had regained his equilibrium, Mustang cleared his throat to center himself then followed.

The taproom they were led to was dimly lit and Mustang had to hold himself back from staring at some of the odd patrons that sat at the tables. There weren't many, and those that were there looked nervous and eyed the new arrivals suspiciously.

The old publican behind the bar raised tired, stressed looking eyes as they came down the stairs and his expression turned to one of relief as he caught sight of their guide. "Professor Dumbledore, sir." He rasped softly, coming around from behind the bar. Dumbledore took the offered hand in his own and shook it briefly before turning to his charges, "Good day to you Tom. These two are the ones I mentioned to you last time I was here. There should be someone along later from the ministry to pick up Mr Mustang here, as for young Mr Elric, I trust you have accommodation set up for him?"

Tom glanced at both of them and nodded sharply, "Yes sir. I also arranged for one of the ministry cars to take Mr Elric to Kings cross next week. Everything else has been organized."

Bowing briefly, the rather skittish looking man went back to his work, while Dumbledore turned back to his charges, "This is where I leave you I am afraid. Tom will show you how to get into Diagon Ally. Once there, if you head over to Gringotts, they should be able to transfer those funds for you. The ministry representative will meet you here, Colonel. Mr Elric,"

Turning to the younger member of their party, he smiled slightly at the grimace on the boy's face at his new title, Mustang held back a snort, _'Mr, indeed'_ he thought with amusement. "Once you collect all of your school supplies, I would ask you to remain here if you would. I'd rather you didn't go wandering around on your own. These are nervous times. Also, I suggest you purchase some of the previous years text books, after all you are entering at the sixth year, so you are going to be behind. With what Colonel Mustang has said about you, I have no doubt you will be able to catch up in no time."

Ed glanced up at his superior in surprise at the compliment and Mustang gave one of his small smirks, _'No hiding the fact that you're a gifted researcher. No one ever denied that.'_ He thought and Ed seemed to read something of his thoughts from his expression, for he smiled slightly and shook his head.

Dumbledore reached out to shake each of their hands gravely, "I thank you both for coming all this way, I only hope that you fare well in this, for I know things are only going to get worse for us. Now, I apologize but I have to leave you now. As I mentioned, I have a few things to take care of before school starts, so if you will excuse me." With one last nod of his white head, he vanished with a faint _pop_.

"So, sir. Where the heck do we go from here?" Mustang glanced around the room again, noting that many of the people still glanced distrustfully in their direction. Not something he was that unused to he supposed. "Well, the Professor did say to get Tom to show us how to get to this Diagon Ally place. I suppose the best idea would be for us to get those funds wired through."

Striding up to the bar, ignoring the others in the room, Mustang cleared his throat to grab the man's attention. Not that he needed to. He could tell that the man noticed everything going on in this room and that above everything else he had seen proved that these people were nervous.

"Excuse me." He said polity, "Could you show us the way to a place called Diagon Ally? There are a few things we need to take care of before the ministry representative comes to collect me."

Tom looked the two of them over again and nodded without speaking. Coming out from behind the bar, he led them out the back into a small, closed off ally. Before either of them could comment, he took a wand out of his pocket and tapped out a sequence on the bricks.

Mustang couldn't stop himself from stepping back as the bricks of the wall started to shift back on themselves, rearranging themselves into an arch way.

Still without speaking, Tom nodded to them, then slipped back through the door to his pub, leaving the two alchemists to stare in shock through the newly revealed archway into the oddest street either of them had ever seen.

"Ah, after you Colonel." Ed said rather nervously, not that Mustang blamed him. The people hurrying along the street had the nervous look about them of people wanting to get their business done as fast as possible so they could get out of there.

Along the sides of many of the shops were huge sombre purple posters that either displayed grim warnings and emergency instructions or black and white, _moving_ pictures of some real unsavory looking individuals.

There were even many shops that had their windows boarded over. Looking at the harried, anxious expressions on people's faces as he made his way down the winding street, Ed close on his heels, Mustang could feel himself instinctively tensing up. These people had the look of a town of the verge of war. It was a feeling he was quiet familiar with, one he had hoped he would never experience again.

Things back home had settled for the moment, so he had thought that this mission would be a good way to gather some intelligence that may be of use in the conflict he knew was coming eventually but from what he had seen here already, he was starting to question the wisdom of getting Edward involved in this.

Glancing back at the younger alchemist, he took note of the grim look on the boys face. There was no doubt in his mind that Ed sensed the same thing he did.

"So where is this Gringotts?" Ed asked him when he noticed his eyes on him. The way that he said it clearly stated that he wanted out of here. Mustang knew that the kid's instincts were as sharp as his, and at present, his were screaming that danger was brewing in this city.

Looking up over the heads of the other people along the stretch of the street, he caught sight of a huge, rather wonky looking white building, "I'm taking a stab in the dark here, but I think that big, white building might be our first point of call."

Ed stood on his toes, trying to see around the other people, but as soon as he saw Mustang looking at him in amusement, he flushed and slipped his hands in to his pockets.

"Well, lets get there then." He grumbled, looking nervously around again at the anxious people hurrying past them, many of them throwing suspicious looks at them as they passed. If the situation was different, he would have found it amusing. These people were eying them up and down as if their uniforms were the oddest clothing they had seen in their lives. This coming from people who, for the most part, were dressed from head to toe in robes and cloaks, talk about weird.

He also noticed that small booths had sprung up along the street, by the shabby look of them, they were makeshift stalls trying to take advantage of the general low panic. He had seen it before, and by the way people were avoiding the stalls for the most part, he assumed that the 'protection charms' and 'warning medallions' these people were selling were probably third rate material at best or down right fakes at worst.

Deciding not to linger, Mustang wove his way down the street, Ed all but walking on his heels, heading for the building at the end of the street.

Once they got closer it was easy to see that they had the right building. Over looking the fact that there was a huge sign reading 'GRINGOTTS' across the front of the building, but standing at the doors was a pair of what could only be goblins.

There was a brief moment of confusion when they spoke to the currency exchange desk but everything was sorted out in short order and the two of them left the rather harassed atmosphere of the bank for the _slightly_ less tense air outside.

"Here, Fullmetal. This should be enough to tide you over. Remember, if there is any problems, inform me when you send in your reports." He grimaced along with his subordinate at the thought of more paperwork then sighed, "I think in this situation we had better make sure to keep on top of things, while we are here. There are too many variables for us to take any chances. I want weekly reports from you without fail. You should be able to find out from the headmaster how to contact me." He handed over a sack of jingling gold coins, "I want you to operate as if you were in enemy territory from here on out. No reckless actions and keep your temper."

Ed nodded sharply, for once not arguing with his orders. "Good luck, Fullmetal." He said gravely, "I will head back to the inn, my contact should be there by now. You get your school supplies then lay low until it is time to head to the school. I'd rather you didn't head out on your own until we know more about the situation here."

Nodding his head in farewell, he turned back down the street, leaving Edward standing on the steps of Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

_AN/ Ok I did have one reviewer ask why Dumbledore was calling Ed Mr Elric when he had been calling him Major before. The simple fact is, from here on in Ed is supposed to be a student, and the Headmaster is addressing him as such._

See Ya


	6. Uniforms, Books and huh? Postal Owls?

_AN/ This chapter has been edited._

Disclaimer: Not mine, never was.

**Ch 6: Uniforms, Books and… _huh? Postage owls?_**

Ed watched as Mustang disappeared up the street and felt strangely bereft. While he had been with the Colonel, he had been able to block out the lonely feeling in the back of his mind, but now that he had left, he could longer ignore the fact that he was rather lost without his little brother by his side.

Reaching into his pocket, he drew out a list of supplies that Dumbledore had handed to him earlier and skimmed through it.

Well, he may as well get started. First point of call seemed to be uniforms.

Looking around at the stores he saw a sign off to the right that read 'Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions' _'well, that looks like the place to start I suppose.'_

Over the next few hours, Ed's control was stretched to the limit. His short fuse had burnt out after the first shop. The annoying witch that ran the store had him stand on a small pedestal while a measuring tape took his sizes and as she noted them down, she commented that he was one of the smallest first years she'd seen this year. He had clenched his teeth, keeping Mustang's orders clearly in his mind and had hissed out that he was a sixth year not a first. She had apologized profusely but for some reason that just annoyed him further, so he left that store as soon as humanly possible after paying for the black robes the woman handed to him.

Next store was by far and away his favorite. Even though he had a slight hissing fit at the clerk when the man handed him first year text books without being asked. He did need the books, but the point was the man automatically assumed he was a first year. If this was the way things were going, he was going to explode before the end of the day.

He managed to get hold of himself however, and explained that he needed the text books from first year through to sixth. The clerk looks surprised, but when he caught sight of the barely held back temper in the flashing gold eyes, he wordlessly stacked the requested books.

'_Damn, if one more clerk mistakes me for a first year, I am going to drop them through their own floor.'_ In an effort to regain his composure, he browsed through the shelves in the bookstore, Florish and Blotts, or something odd like that.

In the back shelves he found some rather interesting looking books on magical history and hefting the money sack the Colonel had given him he figured he probably had enough to afford a few extras, after all the Colonel himself had said he was here for research purposes.

Keeping that thought in mind, he nosed around in a few stores that dealt in second hand goods. In his experience, they were the best type of store to find interesting reading material.

After he had rummaged for a while, and come up with some rather intriguing volumes, he pulled out his list again. He still had to get a telescope, a cauldron, a set of scales and a whole bunch of ingredients that looked like an alchemists worst nightmare. Tacked to the bottom of the list was a brief message, _"Major Elric, you might consider purchasing a postal owl as well. I think that would be the most expedient manner in which to remain in contact with you colleague."_

Staring at the note, Ed shook his head. _'Postal owl? What the hell is that?'_ taking out his pocket watch, he checked the time, almost noon. _'Well, may as well get the rest of this stuff now. Saves coming back here later.'_ Looking around at the rather grim shops he sighed, he almost, _almost_, wished Mustang had stuck around for a little longer. Much as the Colonel got on his nerves at least he could be considered normal next to these odd people.

It didn't take long to collect the rest of the items on his list, most of them he was able to purchase at the apothecary, and the rest next door at a potions supply store.

That left only the owl. Looking up at the signs he found one that read 'Owl Emporium' _'My guess would be there.'_ He thought, rather sarcastically.

Pushing his way into the store he was assaulted by screeches and chuckles and other odd noises from the numerous cages that lined the walls. Looking at all the different birds, Ed had no idea what he was looking for. I mean, what did a postal owl look like any way?

The clerk eventually came up to him with a kind, if pained, smile, "Can I help you at all?"

Ed winced at a particularly loud screech from one of the larger birds and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I'm after a postal owl." He told her doubtfully, hoping that the woman could take things from there. It looked as though his luck was in for him for a change as the woman nodded and drew him up to the counter, "Now, were you after a long distance bird, or something for over short hops?" she asked, here Ed paused, maybe he could contact his brother with one of these birds.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could get one for over short distances and another for long flights? I need one for local deliveries but my family is quite a long way away, so it would be pointless to have only one considering the amount of time the poor creature would be on the wing."

The woman nodded thoughtfully and left him at the counter. She came back a moment later with two cages. One held a rather light barn owl, a pretty bird with a pale white face and tawny feathers. The other held a rather large eagle owl. Ed looked at this one apprehensively and the woman chuckled, "Not to worry youngster, this beauty is as loyal as they come. He will fly through fire and hail for you if you ask him to. This little lady," Here she held up the lighter barn owl, "She's a swift flyer, and as silent as you could wish. As a partnership, these two work well together." After paying for his birds, Ed left the shop with the two cages in his hands, thanking profusely that the other shops had offered to deliver the rest of his things to the Leaky cauldron. He had also purchased one of the huge trunks they had on sale as well, otherwise there was no way he would have been able to carry all that junk.

One last thing he had noted was the stares his uniform was drawing. He had gotten a uniform that went with his robes, a greyish sweater with a gold and red stripe around the neck, a white shirt, a gold and red striped tie and long black pants. From what he had observed the uniform reflected the colours of what ever house one was in. Sighing, he had purchased a couple of each article along with a winter scarf of red and gold. Trust him to get landed in a school that had an even worse uniform then the one the military forced on him from time to time.

He had also bought some rather horrid looking clothes, a few sets of black trouser, a few black shirts, a black jacket of a heavier fabric and a horrible set of red robes. There was no way he was going to wear a uniform all the time. Surely they gave the students a day off now and again.

After he had brought everything he needed to, he saw no reason to linger in what was probably a rather fascinating street in normal times. But after spending a few hours there, the general feeling of foreboding that seemed to choke the air was beginning to get on his nerves, so he headed back to his lodgings.

Not that he minded, he walked into the room that he had been provided to find all of his purchases stacked neatly on the bed. Looking out the small window, he rolled his eyes as it started to rain. Oh well, it wasn't as if he was planning on going anywhere anyway.

Setting the cages down on the bed, he pulled out the ragged looking clothing he had brought and laid them out on the floor. Frowning down at them, he smiled in satisfaction, clapped his hands sharply and slapped his palms onto the ground.

When the blue flash faded, in place of the second hand clothing was two sets of heavy black pants, two black tank tops, his usual short black jacket, bordered in white and the red set of robes had been changed into his trademark red coat, complete with alchemic seal on the back.

Once that was done, he wasted no time in shedding the stupid uniform and dressing himself in his usual attire. As soon as he slipped his silver pocket watch into his pants pocket, he folded his uniform and slipped it into the bottom of his new trunk. Much as he hated the thing, he was well aware he was on a rather delicate mission, so it never hurt to have the thing ready if it was needed.

Next he packed in his uniforms and all of the miscellaneous stuff he'd had to get and last went the books.

Leaving the trunk open, he grabbed up one of the first year text books, and after he placed the owls safely on the floor, covering their cages as the woman had instructed, he shuffled himself up onto his bed and settled down to some serious reading. After all, he had a lot of catching up to do.

After leaving Ed at Gringotts, Mustang hadn't wasted any time in getting back to the Leaky Cauldron. He'd had enough of the stifling atmosphere, but unfortunately he had the feeling that where he was going, it was likely to be worse. He wasn't far wrong.

The Ministry representative had been waiting for him when he got back and Mustang had taken an instant dislike to the man. He was a fussy looking wizard in a green set of robes and the expression on his face instantly screamed _bureaucrat_.

He'd fussed about being behind schedule and had hustled the increasingly annoyed Colonel outside and into a waiting car.

During the trip, Mustang was subjected to a rather pompous lecture on whom he was to meet with once they reached the ministry, right down to the details on how he was supposed to act. All in all it was almost enough for him to throw one of Edwards famous tantrums.

Looking into the office they had provided for him, he was seriously rethinking his decision to hold his temper.

Once they had reached the ministry, he had been presented to a man who was introduced as the Minster of Magic. Mustang had to exert some serious control to keep the smirk off his face, talk about a pompous title. If the Fuhrer went around calling himself something like that, he would be laughed out of his own military.

It was clear after meeting the man that the only reason he was allowing some foreign muggle, whatever the hell that was, into his jurisdiction was as a favor to Dumbledore. Seeing the way the man said the old headmasters name however spoke loudly that the kindly fellow he and Ed had met that morning was not some one you wanted to cross.

After a rather lengthily meeting in which the idiots questioned him about his skills, obviously knowing nothing of what they were talking about, he was led to this small cupboard of an office and told that this would be his work space.

To top it all off, sitting on the small desk, in plain sight, was a neat stack of paperwork.

Cursing under his breath, he slipped into the chair and reached for the top sheet. Maybe he _would_ send for Hawkeye. At least she would liven things up here and if he was to be doing paper work it might as well be his own.

_AN/ Not much change around in this one, just a few typos._

See Ya


	7. Platforms, Trains and Fellow Students

_AN/ This Chapter has been edited._

Just a note on this one, I know Ed's personality has suffered a little through the start of this, but I wanted him to be a little shell shocked at the start, seeing as though this is something he is definitely not used to. And I apologize for having him go into lecture mode in this one, but as you will see, his temper will not be held back for long. (Heh, can't wait for him to meet Snape, that is going to be _so_ much fun.)

Any way, enough of me talking, hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: No, I didn't suddenly become rich and buy the rights, they're still not mine.

**Ch 7: Platforms, Trains and Fellow Students**

By the time the first of September rolled around, Ed had managed to read his way through most of the text books he had bought. After studying the spells and information he had come to the irrefutable conclusion that these wizards were crazy. The whole magic thing seemed completely illogical as far as he could see.

He had to say that in some ways he found the whole process faintly offensive. Everything he had learned over the years, all of the strict rules and laws he had lived and suffered by seemed to be completely ignored when it came to magic.

Although, on the flip side, it might just be possible to find a different recipe in creating the philosophers stone if he used magical theory. It was certainly worth researching anyway.

So it was, on the morning of September the first, he was ready to give these wizard weirdo's the benefit of the doubt.

Sorting through the clothing he had transmuted, he laid them out on the bed and frowned in annoyance. He still had to come up with a clasp for the short black jacket he wore under his coat. He wouldn't have bothered except for the fact that he had to keep his automail a secret and there was no way he was going to manage that if he had to take off his coat at all. Looking around the room, his eyes landed on the cutlery that had come with his breakfast and a grin spread across his face, perfect.

Before long he was dressed and ready to go.

He packed away all of the books that had somehow managed to migrate around the room during the week and closed the lid down on his trunk. Glancing around his room one last time, he nodded in satisfaction, all that was left was the two cages with his owls.

Just as he was getting prepared to leave, there came faint tapping at his window. Opening it, he was startled to have a rather prim looking owl swoop in and land on the covers of the bed. Tied around its leg was an envelope. The bird waited patiently as he untied the string, then with a faint hoot, it flew back outside, not that Ed noticed. He had seen the crest on the letter and he sighed. _'What does Colonel annoying want now?'_ he thought in exasperation, but he had to admit, it was a relief to receive communication from the one person around here he actually knew.

Slitting the envelope, he read the letter and laughed:

_Fullmetal,_

_This is certainly an intriguing way of sending correspondence. _

_I wanted to wish you luck before you headed for the train, if the stupid bird reaches you in time, and to tell you I'm sending a message to HQ for Lieutenant Hawkeye to get her butt here. I tell you, if I knew they were going to give me paperwork to do, I would have brought my own. At least if she is here, she can sort through the stuff that is unimportant to our mission here and no one will argue with her. I am sorely tempted to torch this place just to get the point across that I am not some sort of tool their stupid ministry can use to boost their popularity._

_I thought I would give you some information about how things stand within the ministry, it is likely to effect you as well, so you need to be prepared. _

_Apparently they are rather in disfavor at the moment, something about the previous minister refusing to admit that all the warnings he had received from Dumbledore and that kid Harry Potter were anything but a pack of lies, so as a result, now that they have proof of the revival of this Voldemort character, no one is prepared and every one blames the ministry (rightfully so, the morons.) So, you are going to have to watch your step as the ministry isn't very capable at getting anything done. As far as I have been able to find out, the only people actually doing anything is an undercover group that seems to be led by Dumbledore himself. The minister is trying to take control of things, but to tell the truth, I think that he is more concerned of his reputation then anything else. _

_If possible I want you to investigate this underground group, if you can. I'd say that many of the members are likely to have children at the school, some of them might know something._

_Not only that, steer clear of the ministry. I haven't informed them of your presence here, and I intend for it to stay that way. Keep you eyes and ears open and remember to keep your cool, this is all shaping up to be very dangerous indeed._

_Col. Roy Mustang (The Flame Alchemist)_

Folding the letter carefully, Ed slipped into a folder he had purchased to keep his notes and reports in, then slipped the folder carefully under his books. Once he reached the school, he would have to find some place to hide it, but for now he had to make sure it was out of sight.

Just as he closed down the lid again, there was a knock at his door and it opened to reveal the publican, Tom. Over the week, the number of patrons had dwindled until there were none at all. The old man had seemed to withdraw into himself in melancholy.

"Mr Elric, the ministry car is here for you." He told him dully, and without speaking further, he shuffled forward, taking Ed's trunk over his shoulder, leaving the cages to him and heaved the heavy luggage down the stairs, Ed following behind.

He was shown to a car that was waiting outside and was driven to the train station without even once speaking to the driver, apparently he was well used to following orders without asking questions.

The people at Kingscross station were a lot livelier then the ones in Diagon Ally but from what Ed had been able to dig up, it seemed that these people had little or no idea of what was happening under their own noses.

All those outside of the wizarding world were aware of was the sudden increase in unexpected deaths and a few strange, unexplained disasters.

Pushing the trolley stacked high with his trunk and carefully balancing two large cages, Ed kept a close eye on the people passing by him. It was rather easy to pick out those who were not altogether normal. It seemed as though many of these wizards had no idea how to dress as normal folk. Not that Ed himself could talk. He was dressed odder then some of them, in his usual black pants and shirt and red coat, but at least his was passed off as a weird teen fashion were some of these others were just bad taste.

Reaching into his pocket, Ed drew out the train ticket that had arrived by owl from Dumbledore a few days before. Attached to the ticket had been a brief note.

_Mr Elric,_

_I forgot to mention, when you reach the station, you may have some trouble finding the platform. What you need to do is find the barrier between platforms nine and ten and then run straight at the wall. The barrier normally doesn't allow muggles to pass, but I have ensured that it will react accordingly to your alchemic energy, granting you access. Good luck and welcome to Hogwarts._

_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster._

Well that was certainly good to know. Ed had the feeling if he was to ask a conductor for the location of platform nine and three quarters he would likely to get himself thrown out.

Looking around, it was hard to find the barrier and as luck would have it a few people were passing through as he came up. He had to keep himself from staring as the young fellow he had been flowing suddenly went directly through the wall. This magic thing was certainly going to take some getting used to.

When it came his turn, Ed glared nervously at the wall. Dumbledore had said that he had adjusted the gate so it would recognize his alchemic energy as magic, he was just hoping that the wall had been listening. All he needed was to end up crashing into the wall in the middle of the train station. Somehow he didn't think that would do much for maintaining his cover.

Taking a deep breath, he checked his owls cages were secure and casually walked at the wall. As he came up to it he closed his eyes, praying not to hear a crash but all he felt was an odd shiver pass through him and then a loud hiss of steam. Opening his eyes in surprise, he found himself alongside a red steam engine with Hogwarts Express displayed clearly across the front.

'_Wow, I'm going to have to tell Al about this.'_ He though, impressed despite himself, _'This train is a lot fancier then the ones we usually travel on.'_ Thinking of his brother, Ed sighed,_'Damn. Oh well, may as well find a seat I suppose. No use standing around here.'_

Hoisting his luggage onto the train was certainly an interesting experience, but he eventually managed it without too much hassle and dragging his trunk behind him, he found himself an empty compartment. After heaving his luggage up onto the rack and making sure his owls were secure, he took out a couple of his text books and settled down to study some more.

It wasn't long before the door to his compartment was slid open by a rather odd looking girl. She had straggly, shoulder length, dirty blond hair, pale eyebrows and rather large eyes. She also had the oddest hair accessories and earrings Ed had ever seen. He didn't even want to make a guess at what they were supposed to be.

"Oh, hello. I don't know you." Taking a seat across from him, she studied him carefully for a moment, "I'm Luna Lovegood."

Ed merely nodded, not sure how to take this odd creature. He was saved from answering as the door was slid back again, this time by a rather gangly looking boy with a toad of all things clutched in hands.

The boy hesitated when he saw Ed, but after looking nervously at Luna, he stepped into the compartment, "Hi, I'm Neville, do you mind if we share? There isn't any room in any of the others."

Ed sighed and shook his head, "No, it's fine. I'm Edward Elric by the way." He nodded in greeting and the other boy took a seat across from him, on the other end of Luna's bench.

Ed went back to his reading but he was interrupted again as the boy, Neville, cleared his throat, "So, are you a new first year?" he asked nervously.

Ed twitched, here we go again, "No, I'm a sixth year. I'm here as an exchange student this year."

At the growl in his voice, Luna glanced up form the magazine she had pulled out from somewhere, a magazine, Ed saw with a jittery feeling, that she was reading upside down. Before she said anything however, the door was pushed back for a third time, this time by a rather skinny boy with messy black hair and round glasses.

Ed all but growled, if he was interrupted again he was going to throw something.

The others greeted the new arrival with something close to relief, "Harry." Neville exclaimed, jumping to his feet. At the mention of the boys name, Ed took some notice, so this was Harry Potter. He had managed to find a few mentions in some of the books he had read about this particular person, and he was curious how much of it was true.

Luna glanced up as he enter and nodded gravely, "Harry." The odd girl greeted. Harry, meanwhile looked at Ed curiously, where he sat in the corner, still seemingly reading his textbook, though he was paying close attention to what was going on around him.

He put down his book as the other boy held out a cautious hand, "Hi, I'm Harry Potter." He said, rather neutrally.

Ed looked him up and down and inside he sighed with relief, this was no pushover moron, living off the legend others had written of him. There was strength in his character and the very caution he displayed spoke that he knew very well what was going on outside his little world.

"The names Edward Elric. Ed, if you don't mind." Taking his hand, Ed was careful not to grip too hard, trying to keep his automail hidden for now at least.

Neville stifled a rather odd laugh at their greeting and Ed turned curious eyes on the other boy who merely shook his head, "You mustn't be from around here, you're the first person we have come across that hasn't gone all stupid when they heard _his_ name." he jerked his thumb at Harry who scowled at him in return.

Ed snorted and picked up his book again, "I've come across his name in some of the books I've been studying lately, but I would rather trust my own judgment then that of others on a persons character."

The others stared at him in surprise, but he ignored them. They were starting to annoy him.

The train gave a slight jerk as it stated to move and Ed pulled out his pocket watch, 11:00 on the dot, well at least they were on time.

Everything was rather quiet for the first half hour or so, Neville had taken out some odd looking plant and was examining it carefully, Luna was sitting in her corner, reading her upside down magazine while Harry sat staring rather broodingly out the window, something obviously playing on his mind.

When the door opened again, Ed was fit ready to throw his book at the intruder, if it wasn't for the fact that he would never treat a book that roughly.

This time it was a serious looking girl with long, curlyish hair and a tall, red headed boy, both who had resigned looks on their faces. "Look, Harry, I know that you are concerned but could you possibly just leave it for the moment, I mean we have no proof of what Malfoy was doing in..."

She broke off as she noticed someone else in the compartment. She stared at Ed in curiosity, "Who are you?" her eyes dropped to the book in his lap and her expression cleared to one of welcome, "You a new first year?"

Ed snapped his book shut and hit himself in the head with it.

He had been reading one of the first year text books, so he should really have expected it, "What is it with people and automatically assuming I am a first year. I mean, really. Doesn't anyone new ever show up this school in later grades." He ranted to no one in particular.

The girl stared at him in shock, along with everyone else present, then her eyes went to the stack of text books beside him and widened.

Sitting beside him was the entire curriculum for transfiguration from first year to sixth. Taking in the implications she gulped, "You're a sixth year? And you're studying _all six_ years at the same time?"

Ed grit his teeth and ran his hand over his hair in frustration, _'remember, keep your temper. She was only asking.'_

"Not exactly. I'm here on an exchange program with my school. I'm not even a wizard, to tell you the truth. I'm from an Alchemy academy. My teachers have sent me along as a study program to find out more about magic. Until recently, people in my country didn't even know it existed."

The girls face became alive with interest, while the red headed boy merely shrugged and took one of the spare seats.

"My name is Hermione by the way, and that's Ron." She pointed to the red head, who waved slightly in greeting.

Leaning forward, the girl watched him intently, "Did you say alchemy? That's the study of combining elements and potions and stuff to transmute them into something else, correct? Like lead into gold, that sort of thing."

Ed rubbed at his eyebrow, Dumbledore had been right, these people had no idea what alchemy was. He resigned himself to giving a brief explanation, otherwise he was never going to get any peace.

"Not exactly. Alchemy is science that follows three principals. Analysis, breakdown and reconstruction. A good alchemist is able to analyze a substance and break it down into it's component elements, then reconstruct them in a different form. As to turning lead into gold, hmm its best left alone. The materials are too dissimilar. The main thing to remember that your intended end result has to be of equal compositional value to your beginning components. 'You can gain nothing, without first offering something of equal value in return', the law of equivalent exchange."

Hermione looked fascinated while everyone else in the compartment looked totally confused, "So let me get this straight, say I was to break a glass, you could reconstruct it in any shape of form you wanted, but it would still have to be glass?" she asked curiously.

Ed shook his head, "Yes, but it goes further then that. I could reshape the glass into anything, as long as it was the same mass as the original materials. I cannot create more glass out of nothing. However, I could change that glass into anything else that had the same compositional value, for example I could turn it back into the silicate sand it started out as. But I couldn't turn it into say wood."

The girl look frankly impressed, before she could say anything else however, there was a knock at their door and a pretty looking girl poked her head in, with a faint flush, "I was asked to give this to Neville Longbottom, and this to Harry Potter." She gushed, handing over two folded pieces of paper.

With a sigh, Hermione ushered the girl out again and the red head watched Harry as he read the note.

"What is it?" he asked bluntly at the sour look on the others face.

"Professor Slughorn sent me an invitation to join him for lunch."

Neville gulped rather nervously and held up his hand, "He sent me one to."

Shaking her head, Hermione took the paper from Harry's hand and read through it, "Who is this Slughorn anyway?" she asked bluntly.

Harry just snorted and rose to his feet, "New teacher. Tell you about it later. I suppose we had better accept his invitation and find out what he wants."

It wasn't long before the door was opened again, and this time Ed reacted, his patience finally worn out.

Grabbing the lid of the wooden quill box beside him, he frisbee'd it sharply at the intruder, "GO THE HELL AWAY."

The white blond boy wisely ducked, avoiding being decapitated by the flying piece of timber and came up with weary look that changed to a smirk once he got a look at who was inside.

Once that expression spread over his face, Ed could feel his eye start to twitch, it was a rather sinister version of another expression he was well familiar with.

"If it isn't the Mudblood, the weasel and Loopy. I see that Potter has deserted you, what, did he come to his senses at last and ditch you all? Or did he run and cry to the Headmaster about our little 'discussion' in the robe shop?"

Ed all but growled at the tone of voice, he had just taken an instant dislike to the arrogant snot.

The other boy's eyes came to rest on him and his smirk grew, "You collecting more hopeless cases? Who's the Midget?"

Ed's face went flat, _'He did _not_ just say that.'_

The boy eyed him quizzically when he didn't get response, "What's up with you blondey, did you suddenly forget how to speak or is you brain in proportion to your height?"

All of Ed's carefully maintained control snapped, "LISTEN HERE YOU WHITE HAIRED FREAK. WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DEALING WITH? NOBODY, I REPEAT NOBODY MAKES FUN OF MY HEIGHT YOU SNIDE LITTLE TOADY, MAKE ONE MORE REMARK AND….."

He was cut off by a hand being placed firmly over his mouth and someone grabbing the back of his jacket, hauling away from physically attacking the now nervous looking boy. The idiots toady's had already run and it didn't take long for the ring leader to follow as he noticed that Ed thrashed in his captors grasps, still trying to get at him.

As soon as the boy left, Hermione stepped around in front of him, removing her hand from his mouth as Ron let go of his hold on his jacket.

"Damn, Ed. Much as I would like to see you pound Malfoy, doing it on the train isn't a smart move. Anyway, you didn't need to get so riled up, all he did was call you short,"

Ed immediately tensed again, "_Don't call me short._" He ground out from between clenched teeth.

All his anger, and a good deal of the blood supply to his head, drained out of him and an icy shiver ran through his veins at a horrifying sound from behind him

Knowing it was stupid, Ed started to shake a little in nervousness as he turned to face into the compartment, fully dreading what he would find.

He nearly fainted with relief when all he saw was the girl, Luna, staring at her hand in concentration as she snapped her fingers.

'_Get a grip Ed. What would Mustang be doing here? I mean, the Colonel is off with that ministry, leaving you to do all the real work, as usual._'

That didn't stop him from glaring at Luna as he took his seat again, nor from jumping when she snapped her fingers again and growling at her, "_Don't_ do that."

Hermione, still passing odd, cautious looks Ed's way, turned her attention to the other girl, "What are you doing anyway, Luna?" she asked, her curiosity obviously getting the better of her.

Luna blinked and looked up at them with her odd eyes, "There is a new Aura working at the ministry who casts fire spells by snapping his fingers." She said vaguely, "The story in the _Quibbler_ says that he doesn't even need a wand to do it. I was seeing if I could manage to do it."

Hermione looked faintly skeptical but Ed nearly choked. What the hell was Mustang up to? He thought they were supposed to be keeping a low profile.

"Can I have a look at that?" he asked Luna, indicating the magazine in her hands. She looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then with a shrug handed it over.

Turning it right side up, Ed read the article and burst out laughing. It seemed as though some idiot had gotten onto the Colonels nerves enough for him to torch the fools desk.

Handing the magazine back to Luna, he sat back and snickered, earning him an odd look from Ron, "What's so funny?" the other boy finally asked.

Ed merely shook his head, "Never mind." All he could think of was that it was going to be fun if Mustang did call in Hawkeye. Riza had a talent for setting people on edge and it looked as though these people could use it.

'_Heh, I wonder how much of that place is going to be standing by the end of the year.'_ He mused cheerfully, for once finding his superiors habit of barbequing anyone who pissed him off rather amusing.

….

_AN/ There were a few mistakes in this one, for starters I seemed to have gotten in the habit of calling Dumbledore Principal instead of Headmaster, gah. Oops_._Also, I know that the lead to gold transmutation is illegal, not impossible. Ed explains his answer later. heh._

See Ya


	8. Welcome to Hogwarts

_AN/ This chapter has been edited.  
_

Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, never will be, too bad (sigh).

**Ch 8: Welcome to Hogwarts**

After reading that article on the Colonel, Ed felt much better. It was good to know he wasn't the only one that had trouble containing their temper. He smirked to himself, unconsciously mirroring the expression that so annoyed him, _'Che, this should be fun. At least he can't say anything if he gets word that I messed up. Heh heh, I actually have something on Colonel irritating for once._

In a much better frame of mind, he turned to the other's in the compartment with him.

"So, what are the teachers here like anyway?" he really was curious, as the only one he really had to compare them to was Izumi, and he seriously doubted that her teaching style would be anything like what was used at Hogwarts. Somehow he couldn't see Ron or Hermione being tossed around by their teacher as she lectured them from a cook book.

Hermione shot a look at Ron and sighed, shaking her head and the red head grinned, "Depends on the subject, mate." He told him cheerfully. "You got old McGonagall, she teaches Transfiguration. She's an alright old bat, as long as you're on her good side. She's also head of Gryffindor."

He said that with pride, and Ed had no doubt what house the other boy was in, "Then you got Flitwick, he teaches charms. Nothing to really say there, he's only about a foot tall, but can come up with some of the craftiest charm spells you can imagine. Let's see, who else. Divination is taught by that silly bat, Trelawney," here Hermione sniffed in disdain, "Care of Magical Creatures by Hagrid, who is the best but has an odd interest in dangerous animals." Suddenly his face went sour, "Then there's Snape."

The venom in his voice surprised Ed, he had been thoughtful as he spoke of the other teachers, and maybe a little condescending, but there was respect behind his words, well except for that Trelawney person, but this was different.

"I take it you don't like this Snape character?" he asked, rather redundantly.

Ron snorted and placed his hands behind his head, leaning back against the seat, "You could say that." He answered dryly, "Snape's an arse. He teaches Potions. He's also head of Slytherin."

He all but sneered as he said that, and Hermione shot him an annoyed look, which he promptly ignored, "Well, you'll meet him anyway. Everyone does, eventually. Even if they don't take his class. Other then that, there is Sprout from Hufflepuff, Herbology, Hooch, who teaches flying and Dumbledore, Oh and Binns, he's a ghost."

Ed wasn't sure if he heard that last one right, so he decided to ignore it for the moment, instead he shrugged, "I met Dumbledore already."

Ron blinked at him in surprise, "Really? When?"

Ed just shook his head, "When they signed me up. My… Headmaster came here with me and we met with Professor Dumbledore and finalized my transfer for the year."

Ed almost choked on calling Mustang his Headmaster, but the rest wasn't even a lie, exactly.

Hermione broke their conversation by standing up with a sigh, "We may as well get into our robes, we'll be there soon." she looked over at Luna, but the other girl was already dressed in hers and shook her head. Nodding to the boys, she walked out.

Ed reached over his head and rummaged in his trunk, coming up with the uniform and robes he had bought, and turned to find Ron waiting for him, "Come on, I'll show you where the bathroom is."

Ed was silently thankful as he changed in the small cubical, Ron waiting outside for him to finish, so he could change as well. He really didn't want to explain to anyone about his limbs, if he could help it.

Slipping the robe over his uniform, Ed looked down at himself and nearly snorted. This was even stupider then wearing his military uniform.

With a sigh of resignation, he slipped on his gloves and pushed open the door.

Ron looked him over and stared at the crest on his robes, "Hey, you been sorted already? And you're in Gryffindor, wicked."

Ed grinned at him, he was coming to like the odd boy. "You better get changed to." He told him, gesturing at the door behind him. Ron nodded and before long the two of them were back in their compartment.

While they had been away, Neville and Hermione had returned and Neville was in the process of explaining his meeting with Slughorn.

"I really don't know what it was about. I mean, he kept asking about all of everyone's relatives, but only the ones of any note. You know, anyone who had done something that got them recognized in one way or another. Seemed to have connections with everyone."

Ron looked around as he sat down, "What happened to Harry?"

Neville shook his head, "No idea, he left me after we got away from Professor Slughorn I have no idea where he went."

Ron glanced at Hermione and the two of them sighed.

"Is there something wrong?" Ed asked, eyeing the two of them. He was supposed to keep an eye on this group and it would be much easier, not to mention a lot more honest, if he was their friend. It seemed as though they had some idea of what Harry was up to.

Hermione shook her head and Ron made a sour face, "Not really. We had a run in with Malfoy a few days ago, and Harry is convinced he's up to something. If you have heard anything of Harry at all, I'm sure you could figure out, he seems to attract trouble."

Ed mentally snorted, _'Sounds like me and Al'_ he thought with irony.

"So, what is all those rumors about that I read in some old newspaper clippings I had found? Seems as though you lot have been through some interesting experiences."

The effect on the other three was instantaneous. Neville looked rather uncomfortable, Hermione and Ron rather pained. Luna just ignored them.

Finally Hermione sighed, "May as well tell you, I suppose. It's not like most of it is a secret anyway."

Ed listened in fascination as she told him of the experiences the three of them had gone through in the last five years at Hogwarts, form their quest for the philosophers stone, fighting off a ghost formed through a memory fragment in a diary, to corrupt teachers, everything. Ed himself had seen some weird things in his time and he found himself admiring this group. They had gone through some pretty rough stuff.

When Hermione reached the point in her tail where she was describing what had happened the year before, she became slightly evasive.

She told him of their trip to the ministry and something about a prophecy, all of which Ed assumed was rather common knowledge, but there were some rather large gaps in her story, ones that Ed caught onto rather quickly.

He turned it over in his mind as Hermione, with occasional input from Ron and Neville, described the fight they'd had in the ministry basement.

There was something about the way she avoided talking about anyone other then the main group of her fellow students and something about the way she called them the DA, or Dumbledore's Army, that sent alarm bells ringing. Mustang had said that the underground group was likely run by Dumbledore himself and if he missed his guess, these students were somehow involved in all this. The mere fact that the enemy had so much interest in them told him that without them having to say anything.

"So, now every one knows that Harry was telling the truth, and everyone is on high alert. The ministry is running itself around in circles trying to maintain control and Dumbledore is trying to hold everything together to keep people from panicking." Hermione finished.

Ed nodded thoughtfully, his mind still going over everything he had just heard, "What about all this 'chosen one' stuff you were talking about, this prophecy thing. Is there any substance to the rumors?" Hermione looked uncomfortable at his question and Ron looked away, carefully not meeting his eyes.

'_Hmm, looks as though I've stumbled onto something here. Best to leave it at the moment though.'_

"Look, never mind. Everyone has things they would rather not share with their best friends, let alone someone they just met. It's good you told me the rest though. At least now I have some idea what is going on."

The others looked relieved and Hermione gave him a grateful smile,

"So, how long until we reach the school, anyway? I don't know about anyone else, but I am sick to death of this train."

By the time they had reached the station at Hogsmead, Harry still hadn't returned and Hermione had become worried. She looked around frantically as they all disembarked, and Ron reached out to lay his hand on her shoulder, "Look, Harry can take care of himself. He'll catch up with us later. You know how he's been lately. Probably just checking something out."

She looked up at him in gratitude and the two of them turned to Ed, who was looking around at all of the students uncomfortably. "So, Ed. Are you supposed to travel to the school with the first years or go by carriage with the rest of us?"

Ed looked up at her question and frowned in thought, "Come to think of it, I have no idea."

Reaching out Hermione grabbed his left hand and dragged him off in the direction of a loud voice calling "Firs' years, firs' years over 'ere."

"Come on. We'll ask Hagrid, he'd probably know."

Ed looked back at Ron helplessly and the other boy shrugged, as if to say, "May as well do as she says."

Turning his attention back to where Hermione was pulling him, Ed thought his heart was going to fall through his feet. Before them, towering over the heads of a crowd of first year students was the _biggest_ living being he had ever seen that wasn't some sort of malformed chimera or animated statue. He kind of put him in mind of Major Armstrong on some serious hair growth formula.

"Hagrid." Hermione waved her hand to catch the huge man's attention.

Ed did not enjoy standing directly in front of him as he had to almost lean back to look at his huge face, making him feel even smaller then he usually did, not a feeling he particularly liked.

"'Ello, 'Ermione, Ron." Hagrid smiled down at them as he ushered the first year students into a group over to one side.

"Hey, Hagrid. This here is Ed." Hermione pushed Ed forward and he stared up the huge man, a nervous grin on his face. "We were wondering if you knew where he was supposed to go. He's a new student but a sixth year, not a first."

Hagrid thought for a moment then nodded, "Aye, you would be Edward Elric. Dumbledore tol' me you were to travel by carriage with the other sixth years." He pointed over in the direction that the other students were heading. "You better hurry along, or you might no' get one to yerselves."

Ron grinned and waved up at him, "Sure thing Hargid. We'll see ya later on. Thanks a lot."

He all but ushered the two of them off to where Hagrid had pointed and Ed found himself pushed along with all the other students.

He stared in distracted horror at the creature pulling the carriages they were led to, but didn't say anything about them as it seemed not to bother anyone else. Once they were inside however, he turned to Hermione as being one who was likely to give him some idea what they were.

"What on earth are those things that are hitched to the front of this thing? Dumbledore said that they weren't any type of Chimera, but he didn't tell me what they were."

Hermione glanced over at him in surprise from her contemplation of the view outside the window, "You can see them?" she asked softly, a look of sympathy in her eyes.

Ed was confused to say the least, "What do you mean? Of course I can see them. Not too pretty are they?"

Hermione shook her head, "I'm afraid I don't know. Their known as Thestrals and the only ones who can see them are those who have seen death."

Ed shivered as those simple words brought back memories he would rather forget. Flashes of the failed human transmutation, Major General Grann's murder at the hands of Scar, Nina. He gave a shudder and he knew his face had gone pale as a sick feeling settled into his stomach.

"Ed, are you alright?" Hermione's soft voice broke into his thoughts and he raised his face to find both her and Ron staring at him in concern. He shoved the memories back into a closet in his mind and gave them a small smile.

"Sure I'm fine."

Surprisingly, neither of them asked. Instead, they turned the conversation to where they were going.

"When we get to the school, they deliver all of out luggage to our rooms, all we have to do is head for the great hall for the sorting and the welcome feast." Ron told him, enthusiastically, "By the way, have you any idea what dorm they are putting you in?"

Ed nodded, relieved they were talking of something harmless, "Yeah, Professor Dumbledore took me there before he dropped me off at Diagon Ally. It's the same one as you, Harry and Neville and two others that I haven't met yet."  
Ron laughed heartily, "That's Seamus and Dean. So you're in with us are you? Brilliant."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but her expression was one of fond exasperation.

The carriage rattled to a stop and Ed glanced out the window to find them in the same courtyard he and the Colonel had left just a week before.

'_Well, here we go.'_ He thought to himself as they all climbed out and headed with the other students up the wide steps to the welcoming glow of the open doors.

Ed wasn't sure what to expect when he followed the others through to a huge dining hall. He'd half been thinking of something similar to the mess hall in HQ, but what he found was something far different.

He gazed up in shock at a ceiling that twinkled with the stars of the night sky and he shivered when he saw the shadow of some night flyer wing past. It looked as though the ceiling wasn't even there and they were walking under the night sky.

Tearing his gaze away from the rather unsettling sight, he saw the students organizing themselves along four long tables that ran the length of the hall. At least this looked normal.

"Ed, the Griyfindor table is over here." Ron called. Ed had been left behind as he had stood in shock over the magical roof. He looked over to the left to see Ron and Hermione gesturing for him to join them at the table that ran along the left hand side of the room.

"What was the hold up mate? We thought we'd lost you for a minute there." Ron commented as Ed took a seat next to him. Shaking his head, Ed mumbled something unintelligible and pointed up. Ron merely looked confused but Hermione laughed softly.

"Not to worry, it's just bewitched to look like the sky outside. It's a harmless spell to make the hall seem bigger."

Ed still felt rather uncomfortable but he smiled at her in thanks anyway.

There was a faint commotion as the rest of the students took their seats and Ed looked up at the head of the room to a long table spread at right angles to the room. Seated behind it was an assortment of adults, so these must be the teachers. Seated in the center was a familiar figure. Dumbledore caught his eye and nodded politely to him, a small smile spreading across his face as he saw who he was sitting next to before he turned his attention to a tall, older witch in a set of green robes who had just entered through another door. With her walked the crowd of first year students.

"What's going on?' Ed asked curiously as the witch placed a three legged stool in front of the assembly. He had a rather weird flashback of his Alchemist exams.

"Sorting." Ron answered him shortly, "See, there's the hat."

The witch had placed a rather ragged hat onto the stool and stood off the one side while the hat actually moved, opening a seam along its rim and started to sing.

Ed stared at the thing, not really paying attention to what it was saying. Had someone actually been stupid enough to bind a soul to an old hat? He highly doubted it but it was rather weird.

After the thing shut up, the first student was called forward and the hat placed on his head. After that, Ed lost interest, turning his attention instead to his table mates who were whispering to each other about their missing friend.

"Where do you think he is?" Ron hissed, Hermione shook her head, looking towards the teachers table in concern. Her eyes narrowed as another empty chair caught her attention, "Professor Snape isn't here either." She said thoughtfully.

Ron's head whipped around to look up at the teachers tables and he swore softly, "Not good." He gritted.

On the tail end of the sorting, the doors to the hall opened and Harry was led through by a sour looking wizard. Whispering broke out as Harry made his way along the tables to where Ed, Ron and Hermione sat. He wasn't dressed in his school robes and the look of suppressed fury on his face was rather marred but the blood that stained his features. While Hermione exclaimed over the damage, Ed kept an eye on the teacher as he walked up along the Slytherin table. Ed's eyes narrowed as he passed where Malfoy sat with his cronies, gesturing to his nose and snickering. He would swear the teacher had smirked coldly as he caught whatever the evil little toad was saying. This teacher had the same slimy aura around him as some of the military officers that Ed had come across, and he distrusted him on sight.

"So, what did Slughorn want anyway?" Hermione was asking after she had cleaned the blood from Harry's face.

Harry waved her off, "He wanted to know what really happened at the ministry. Like everyone else." Turning, Harry nodded to Ed then looked up at the teachers table, returning Hargids cheerful wave, "So, has Dumbledore mentioned anything about Voldemort at all?"

Ed's interest was caught at his question, while Hermione shook her head, "Not yet, but he saves his speeches until the end of the feast, so you never know."

Harry nodded distractedly and watched as the witch took any the sorting hat and stool "Hat say anything interesting?"

Ron scratched at his head, "Same as everything else really," he muttered, "Spoke about how we all had to unite in this time of trouble and stand firm in the face of our enemies."

Dumbledore stood up at the front of the room and everyone fell silent in expectation. The old wizard merely smiled and nodded his head, "Let the feast begin."

Ed very nearly fell of his seat as platters of food suddenly appeared out of thin air along the table. He managed to stop himself from swearing aloud but he did scrabble back a bit, much to the amusement of his table mates.

"Hey, Ed. You might want to loosen up a bit there mate. If you keep jumping like that, you're going to shake something loose." Ron told him jovially, slapping him lightly on the back.

Ed glared at the table as if daring it to do something else out of the ordinary, then reached out cautiously to grab one of the platters,_'This has got to be the most whacked out assignment I have ever been on.'_ He thought, not for the first time.

After the first course vanished and the next one appeared, Ed finally managed to keep himself from jumping at disappearing plates. The food really was fantastic.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, the tables cleared themselves off and once again Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"The very best of evenings to you." He said, raising his arms. His sleeve feel back to expose a blackened and dead looking right hand and Ed frowned. He didn't remember the injury from when he met with him earlier in the week.

"What happened?" Hermione gasped from behind him and Harry whispered back to her, "His hand was like that when he came to get me, I thought he would have cured it by now."

Ed only half listened to them as he paid attention to the headmasters words, telling them not to be concerned about his injury then going on to welcome them all. There was a round of messages mainly concerning social matters and someone named Filch telling every one there was a blanket ban on items from some joke shop before he turned his attention to the staff table, "We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year, Professor Slughorn." A bald, rather round, teacher stood up, "Professor Sluhorn is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of potions master." Dumbledore continued.

"Potions?"

There was a ripple of surprise around the room and Ed glanced at Harry and Ron wondering what was up. The two of them looked as shocked as everyone else.

"I thought you said he was taking Defence…"

Ron was cut off as Dumbledore raised his voice over the muttering, "Professor Snape in the meantime, will be taking over the position of Defence against the dark arts teacher."

Ed jumped as Harry yelled, "No!" causing many people to stare in his direction. Not sure what all the fuss was about, Ed turned his attention to the teachers table where the greasy looking teacher had lazily raised his hand in acknowledgement to the headmasters announcement. So this was Professor Snape, the one Ron claimed was an ass. Behind him Hermione, Ron and Harry were having a hissed conversation, something about not having to worry about Snape being there next year because of the job being cursed. Ed nearly laughed aloud at that. They really didn't like the man.

The room went quiet again as Dumbledore raised his arm. "Now, as you all know, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining strength." He said gravely and the atmosphere in the hall became tense, "The school defensive spells have been strengthened over the summer, but each and everyone of you must aid in the protection of yourself and your fellow students. I cannot stress strongly enough how dangerous this situation is. More stringent security measures have been put into place," here Dumbledore glanced in Ed's direction and the alchemist gave him a barely perceptible nod, he was well aware of that part of his mission, "But carelessness on your part will not help matters. I urge you to follow any security restrictions placed on you by your teachers no matter how annoying they are, in particular the rule that you are not allowed to wander the halls after hours. If you see anything suspicious or out of place, I want you to report it to the prefects or a member of staff immediately. I trust you will conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others safety."

He scanned the room with his blue eyes before smiling once again, "But now, your beds await, so your first priority should be to get some rest for start of lessons tomorrow. Oh and Mr Elric, if I could see you for a moment please?"

There was a deafening scraping as the benches were pushed back and students started to file from the hall, Ed made his way up to the staff table.

Dumbledore turned from answering a question from one of the other teachers and stepped down to hand Ed a couple pieces of folded parchment. "These are passes for the library and a hall pass, allowing you permission to patrol the halls." The old man told him gravely, staring into his golden eyes.

Ed nodded, relief spreading through him. He had thought for a minute that he was going to have trouble with the school rules trying to follow his orders about keeping an eye on things. If he had been restricted by the curfew like the other students, it would have cut his effectiveness in half, "Now, Major, I will allow you to retire to your bed. It looks as though you have an escort waiting for you." Dumbledore finished quietly, glancing over his shoulder in amusement.

Ed followed his gaze and found his three new friends waiting for him at the door. From the look on their faces the conversation they were having wasn't a particularly cheerful one.

Turning his gaze back to Dumbledore, Ed nodded gravely, "Thank you sir. If you would excuse me?" at Dumbledore's nod. Ed turned and made his way down to join the group waiting for him.

As they walked with him through the maze of hallways and corridors to Gryffindor tower, Ed mused over everything that had happened. Now if he could only get through this without blowing his cover, he might actually get somewhere with his research.

….

_AN/ Gah I spelt Gryffindor completely wrong this whole chapter._

See Ya


	9. Defense Against the Dark Arts

_AN/ This chapter has been edited.  
_

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his friends are not mine, neither are Ed, Roy or Hawkeye. (Damn)

**Ch 9: Defence Against the Dark Arts**

Colonel Roy Mustang set down his pen with a grimace. Who would have thought he would voluntarily be sending for that trigger happy excuse of an assistant.

But it had finally come to that. Mustang realized that he couldn't just continue torching desks, after the last one, he's had the entire ministry in an uproar, thinking they were under attack.

Sitting back in his chair, he smirked to himself, at least his people were insane in a productive manner, the idiots here were mainly running around bitting their own arses. Well he was about to change that slightly. He may not be able to have his entire staff with him but he certainly could have one of his more 'inspiring' subordinates to back him up.

Reaching forward, he took up the letter he had just finished and scanned through it before folding it in half a sealing it with satisfaction. It was a rather unsubtle 'request' for one Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye to get her butt to her superiors side, yesterday.

Turning to the large owl that perched on his desk, Mustang eyed the creature dubiously. As much as these people told him that this was the normal way to post mail, he still had trouble convincing himself that he wasn't totally mad trusting his correspondence to a bird.

Once the letter was tied to the owl's leg and the creature launched out his window, Mustang turned his contemplation to the brief report he had received from the other unfortunate alchemist stuck in this crazy situation.

Ed hadn't much to report as he had sent this just before heading to catch the train, but Mustang chuckled lightly at the indignation fairly seeping off the page. It seemed as though all the strange things they had encountered here hadn't changed Fullmetal's spirit at all, and he fully expected the shrimp to round him out about it once he saw him again. But even though he complained about the assignment, as always, and blamed everything on his superior, the younger alchemist had loyally reported everything he had observed during his stay at the Leaky Cauldron.

By now, he should be at Hogwarts and Mustang was satisfied that he had decided to send the kid in the first place. From what he had been able to pick up, they were likely going to need someone within the walls of the school before too long.

…

The next morning Ed woke to find himself surrounded by red curtains. It took him a moment to register where he was, and when he did, he let out a huff of annoyance, _'well, too much to hope it was all a dream.'_ He thought sourly.

He had taken care the night before that his pajamas covered his metal limbs and he had taken the extra precaution of wearing a pair of socks and his gloves as well, before pulling the curtains fully on his bed.

Snorting to himself, he pushed the curtains back and glanced around the tower room that was just barely light from the rising sun.

His room mates hadn't made an appearance as far as he could tell, their curtains all drawn, not that he could blame them, it must be close on five thirty.

Rummaging in his trunk, he came up with a clean uniform and changed into it, pulling his shoes and gloves on before brushing out his hair and tying it back in his customary braid. After another look around the quiet room, he grabbed up one of his text books and headed down to the common room. May as well get some study in until the others woke up.

He had gone through the book twice before there was a stirring from any of the dorms, the first person making an appearance being a rather frazzled looking Hermione. She took one look at him sitting by the fire and came to join him, taking one of the other couches, her still tired eyes latching on the book in his hands, "Advanced Transfiguration?" she asked absently.

Ed flipped back to the front and skimmed over the pages some more, "Yeah, I've read through it around four or five times, trying to adapt some of the stuff in here to alchemy. It's rather odd, really. Transfiguration is basically straight transmutation but instead of having to have components of equal value, you can start out with any substance." He frowned slightly in discomfort, "And if I read this correctly it is also widely practiced using animals and even people."

Hermione seemed to wake up a little more as he spoke and her expression was mildly curious, "That's correct." She said, in reference to his observation, "Is there some problem with that?" Ed just shook his head, not really wanting to explain at the moment why the idea was so abhorrent.

Seeming to sense his reluctance, Hermione changed the subject slightly, "On the train here, when you were explaining alchemy to me you said it was impossible to turn lead into gold, can you tell me why?"

Ed blinked at her, mildly surprised she had been paying that much attention. Noticing she had his attention, she continued, "I was wondering then why it is the most well known rumor about alchemy. If it is impossible, why is it the first thing that is attempted by all alchemists as far as magical ones go? from what you were saying as long as the base material is the same then you should be able to make the transmutation. I'm a little rusty on scientific theory but if I remember correctly then gold and lead are both classified in the same elemental group, meaning that they have to have at least some base material that is similar."

Ed shook his head, trust him to find someone curious enough to ask him questions who was also intelligent enough to pick up on discrepancies. Sitting back, he closed the book on his lap and stared into the flames, idly wondering who kept it burning.

"You're right. I haven't told you the exact truth about that, but the truth is, not many people are supposed to know anyway. It is easier for people to just believe it is not possible." Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees and explained, "You were correct in assuming that lead and gold have some similar base elements. Now, this would normally be all that was required for a successful transmutation, but the trouble is that the similar elements are on too small of a scale. You almost have to go to an atomic level in order to reach the core material. The reason meddling in lead to gold transmutation is forbidden, is simply the fact that it is too dangerous. If you mess with something on that level, when something goes wrong, it tends to be rather, shall we say, explosive(1). Not only that, but could you imagine the effect it would have on the economy if alchemists just went around creating gold out of lead shavings?"

Hermione looked thoughtful for a while as she considered what he told her and in the mean time, some of the others decided to make an appearance.

Ron stumbled down the stairs, yawning, Harry right behind him, looking slightly more awake. "Morning Ed." Harry greeted, pushing Ron down into one of the other chairs.

Ed nodded back, "So, what happens this morning?" he asked them all, looking between the three of them. He knew they had seen him talking to Dumbledore last night, but so far none of them asked what their conversation was about, for which he was thankful, as he wasn't sure how much he was going to tell them as of yet.

Hermione seemed to abandon her dissecting of his explanation on lead to gold transmutation in favor of answering his question.

"After breakfast we report to the heads of our houses for our class schedules. Then we move onto our first class. You got any idea what you're going to apply for?"

Ed blinked at her in confusion, "Apply?"

"Yeah, you need to apply for your classes depending on you're career choice, then you have to have the teachers approval to enter each class."

Ed swore to himself, they had forgotten to mention this when they signed him up.

Then he remembered that Dumbledore had said he was going to match him to classes that he should be able to adapt to use with his alchemy, hopefully there shouldn't be any problems.

Once Ron woke up enough to speak coherently, they all made their way down to the great hall for breakfast, this time Ed taking careful note of their route. If he was to start his patrols, he needed to start familiarizing himself with the castle.

As they sat down to a breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and pumpkin juice of all things, Hermione turned to Harry with a determined look on her face, 'So, are you going to tell us what happened to get your face so bloody last night?"

Harry glanced at Ed and he knew that the other boy was still unsure whether to trust him or not. Apparently he came to a decision as he told them what had happened to him after he had left Neville on the train.

"I snuck into Malfoy's carriage under my invisibility cloak." He said quietly, his face serious. Ron blinked at him and Hermione frowned slightly in mild annoyance.

If Harry noticed, he didn't say anything, "I listened in on them talking, Malfoy was bragging to his cronies about what he'll be doing next year. Something about gaining Voldemorts' respect enough that he doesn't have to attend school next year. Kept going on about how if he made himself useful, then his _master_" Harry all but hissed the word, "Would reward him with a place at his side if he was qualified or not." He looked at the other two closely, waiting for some type of response. Ed was rather confused by the looks of annoyance on both of their faces.

Hermione shook her head, "Look, Harry. I know you want to believe that Malfoy is up to something, but you know how he talks. He didn't say anything we haven't heard before."

Ron nodded in agreement, "She's right mate, I mean, all he was doing was showing off for Parkinson. I mean, what kind of mission could you-know-who possibly have for Malfoy?"

Ed could see Harry all but suppressing a growl, "How do you know Voldemort doesn't need someone within the walls of Hogwarts, I mean it wouldn't be the first time."

The other two shook their heads and Harry dropped the subject but Ed thought he had a point. After all, Dumbledore had him there for basically the same purpose. Maybe this Malfoy would bear watching. He remembered their little discussion on the train and the snots actions at the table last night and his eye twitched, if he didn't kill the freak first.

The rest of breakfast passed a little tensely but everything lightened up once again as they lined up to receive their new schedules from Professor McGonagall, who turned out to be the witch from the sorting the night before.

Hermione was immediately cleared to continue with Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Potions, leaving them rather abruptly for her first class.

Harry stepped up to her desk and she scanned her list, "Potter, Potter. Charms, Defence against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Transfiguration… all fine." She looked up at him through her square glasses and gave him a smile, "I must say, I am pleased with your Transfiguration mark, Potter, very pleased." She looked down at her notes again and frowned lightly, "Now why haven't you applied for Potions? I thought your ambition was to become an Auror."

Harry nodded, "It was, Professor." He told her gravely, "But you told me I had to get an 'outstanding' on my O.W.L to qualify."

The teacher shook her head, "With Professor Snape, you would have. But Professor Slughorn is willing to take N.E.W.T students with 'Exceeds Expectations' at O.W.L level. Do you wish to proceed with Potions?"

Harry blinked then smiled, "Yes, I would. But I don't have any of the books or ingredients or anything …"

Professor McGonagall waved that away, "I'm sure Professor Slughorn will be able to lend you some equipment until you get your own. Very well Potter, here is your timetable." She handed over a sheet of paper, "Oh, by the way – twenty hopefuls have already put down their names for the Gryffindor Quiddich team. I will pass the list on to you in due course and you can fix up trails at your leisure."

Ron was soon cleared to do the same subjects as Harry and McGonagall turned her attention to Ed.

"Edward Elric, Professor." He told her solemnly, not sure how much Dumbledore had divulged to the other members of staff. The Professor gave him a slight smile and handed him a timetable, "Professor Dumbledore already had your timetable drawn up, Mr Elric. I hope that you find your time with us here worth while." Ed nodded gravely to her then turned to catch up with his friends as they walked back towards the great hall.

"Look, we've got a free period now… and a free period after break… and after lunch… _excellent._" Ron exclaimed, examining his timetable.

Ed look down at his and saw he had a free period as well. "So, where did you want to go for this period?" Ron shrugged and Harry looked thoughtful.

"I dunno, how about we just show you to the library." Ed brightened at that suggestion and Harry noticed, giving him a slap on the back, "You're as bad as Hermione. Come on, we could use the break before we face Snape."

The Library he was led to was no where as big as the first branch at Central but the books here were vastly different to the ones found on the shelves back home. Ed wanted desperately to rummage through those shelves, especially the ones along the shelves that were roped off from the others with a large sign reading, 'Restricted Access. Teacher permission required.' He held himself back, knowing he had time later to explore those shelves, at the moment, he sat at one of the tables with Harry and Ron, talking about nonsense until the period was over. Ed chaffed at the waisted time, but he had no desire to alienate his new friends, especially in view of the fact he was supposed to be their guard of sorts.

After an hour had passed, they made their way down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Hermione was already there, her arms full off books and a resigned look on her face.

"You wouldn't believe how much homework I already have." She told them anxiously by way of greeting as they joined her.

Ron yawned, "What a shame. It's your own fault though for taking so many classes." Hermione glared at him and muttered under her breath, "You wait, I'll bet Snape gives us loads." And left it at that.

The door to the classroom opened and the sallow faced wizard Ed had taken note of at the feast stepped out, glaring balefully at the line of students. "Inside." He all but hissed.

Ed couldn't help looking around as he entered the classroom. The drapes had been pulled and the gloomy room was lit by candlelight. Gruesome pictures lined the walls and Ed wasn't the only one to stare at them.

The Professor stalked to the front of the room his black robes billowing around him as he walked, "I am frankly surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L in this subject, given the past five years confusion with this class." He told them dispassionately, his black eyes roaming the class, "I would be frankly, more surprised if any one of you manages to keep up this year, as the work is going to be much more advanced." He started to stalk around the room, speaking in lower tones, "The Dark Arts are many, varied and ever changing. They are eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many headed monster, which, every time a neck is severed, it sprouts a head fiercer and more intelligent then the one before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."

Ed listened to the Professor talk and wondered if any one else in the room could here the caress in his voice as he spoke of something that was apparently supposed to be evil. Ed wanted to roll his eyes, why couldn't he ever find an adult that was even half way sane. Looking around he caught Harry glaring at Snape, a look of disgust on his face. Looked as though he wasn't the only one who noticed.

The Professor had stepped up to the paintings along the wall, "Your defense," he said a little louder, "Must therefore be as flexible and inventive. These pictures, give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, the Cruciatus Curse," he indicated one picture of a which, clearly shrieking in agony. Ed glanced around at his fellow students, taking stock of their expressions. Hermione looked sick, so did Ron, Harry had a kind of detached sympathy of one who had experienced the same pain and Neville was so pale he looked ready to faint. Tuning back to Snape thoughtfully, he watched as the Professor gestured to the next painting, this one of a blank eyed wizard, slumped against a wall, "The Dementors Kiss." He hissed softly and Ed shuddered. Of all the creatures he had read up about, that one was not one he ever wanted to encounter. The last picture was of a rather anonymous bloody mess, "One who provokes the aggression of the Inferius." He finished softly and many of the class shivered.

One girl raised her hand, "Is it definite he is using them Professor, have they been seen?" she asked nervously.

Snape gave a small smirk, "The Dark Lord has used them in the past." He told them, "It is therefore well advised to assume that he will use them again."

Ed stared at the paintings he hadn't indicted. Some of them were truly grisly, putting him in mind of some of Barry the Butchers victims or even some of Scars more unfortunate targets.

Making his way back to his desk, Snape shuffled through his papers then turned his eyes on the class, more specifically, on Ed.  
"I see we have a new student among us." He stated quietly, there wasn't much warmth in his voice, not that Ed cared, he simply stared back with his usual lack of anything resembling respect. This man didn't have a scratch on the art of intimidation that Brigadier General Grans'd had, and he'd stared that man down on many occasions before he died.  
"Mr Elric. Professor Dumbledore assures me that you by far and away capable of keeping up with this class, tell me, in your own words what you consider this course to be about." Hermione seemed to twitch in her seat as if she desperately wanted to answer but she glared at Snape with resentful eyes.

Ed just sighed. Loudly. "As far as I have been able to find out through the limited amount of information available, the 'dark arts' that this class is supposed to be teaching how defend against include spells classified as 'dark' under ministry decree, as well as creatures and animals classified the same way. From what I have been able to uncover the classification of 'dark' seems to be rather ambiguous really."

Snape's expression was rather sour at his offhand answer and Ed bit back on a smirk at his obvious annoyance at the 'child' brushing off the importance of his subject.

"So you do not think much of the danger in the dark arts Mr Elric, tell me, what great evils have you faced that the thought of inferni, werewolves, the pain of the cruciatus curse hold no fear for you."

Ed snorted sourly, he was not going to tell this git his life story but the condescending sneer in his voice irked him enough that he actually answered, "As to werewolves and other such 'creatures' at least they have human intelligence, even if only most of the time, some of the chimeras I've come across I could consider more dangerous on a purely attack without reason basis. As to the others, well there are things out there much more frightening then pain." The rest of the class looked rather intrigued by his answer, but Ed ignored them in favour of glaring at Snape who almost growled and his eyes fell to the paper on his desk before taking on an unpleasant gleam, "It says here that you are an Alchemy student, Mr Elric. May I ask you, have you ever heard of a Homunculus?"

Ed went cold at his question and his gold eyes went flat, "A Homunculus," he said icily, "I would very much like to know where you heard that term. And if you ever met one you would know that your pitiful little inferni have nothing on the danger one of those monsters brings."

Snape actually looked surprised and a little uncomfortable at his answer, suggesting that he didn't know all the facts himself. Ed simply glared at the man.

He had no idea who he was messing with, and from his question he, like everyone else here, didn't have much of an idea at all what Alchemy was capable of either.

"Ten Points from Gryffindor." He stated, rather defensively, Ed though as he smiled slightly at the rather stained tone of the teachers voice.

Turning from him, Snape regained his composure and continued the lesson, Harry meanwhile threw Ed a thoughtful look.

Snape soon had them practicing what he called non-verbal spells. The students were apparently supposed to repel their classmates jinxes without the use of an incantation.

Ed could immediately see the benefit in that, it was the same with him being able to use alchemy without a circle. It saved time in an emergency and it didn't give the enemy that split second warning of what you were up to.

Snape ignored Ed for the most part, leaving him to observe, this being a situation where he couldn't interact with the spell casters, not until he came up with some way to battle magic with alchemy, but he watched the others closely.

Hermione managed to perfect the technique about ten minutes into the lesson, a fact that Snape seemed content to ignore. Instead he swept down on Ron and Harry, "Pathetic, Weasley." He said snidely, "Here, let me show you."

He turned his wand on Harry fast and Ed watched in admiration as Harry whipped his wand up and yelled, _"Protegio."_

The teacher was actually thrown back by the shield and Harry glared at him as he picked himself up off the desk he had slammed into, scowling.

"Do you remember me telling you we were practicing _non-verbal_ spells, Potter?"

"Yes." Harry answered stiffly, not lowering his wand.

"Yes _sir._"

"There is no reason to call me sir, Professor." By the blink that he gave when he said that, it was obvious that Harry hadn't thought before he spoke, but Ed still snorted, trying not to laugh at the sour look on Snapes face.

"Detention Potter. Saturday night, my office." He said softly, "I do not take cheek from anyone. Not even the _Chosen One_."

Ed had a hard time suppressing his smirk. He wondered how far _he_ could push this jackass. It was obvious he still wasn't sure what to make of the young alchemist, otherwise, Ed was sure that he would have been joining Harry in detention.

…

_AN/_

(1) I don't know if anyone would recognize this reference. I'm not sure if they give a reason in the anime or manga of why Lead to Gold transmutation is forbidden, so I decided to give one. If you look at many stories, for example David Eddings' Mallorian, that have alchemists in them at all, their experiments into lead/gold transmutation tends to explode, rather violently, when the littlest thing goes wrong. I thought that would be a good reason to forbid the practice._ At the time I wrote this originally I had not seen the eps at the mines where Ed turns all that metal slag into gold bars so I used an explanation that made sense to me. After reading back through it,I decided to put in the actual reason it is illegal, the whole economy thing, but left in my explanation as well. After all, the possibility that you could go BOOM would definitely be a bigger deterrent then economic crisis. _


	10. Potions, Alchemy Style

AN/ _This one has been edited_

Disclaimer: Well, every one already knows, not mine. Eh. I even have integrated some of J K Rowlings work with mine. So basically, if it is recognizable, it is not mine.

**Ch 10: Potions, Alchemy Style**

"You two should really watch yourselves around Snape you know. I mean really, if you deliberately provoke him, you know there will be trouble." Hermione told Ed and Harry as they left the DADA classroom, they were one break now and the four of them were heading to the great hall, planning on spending it there before heading to their next class.

Harry all but growled at her, "He was trying to jinx me if you didn't notice." He fumed, "I had enough of that last year, why doesn't he use someone else as a guinea pig for a change."

Ron clapped him on the back, shaking his head at Hermione, "He's right. I'm just surprised Ed didn't end up with detention as well. It's not often one can up old Snape and get away with it."  
Ed snorted, hoisting his book bag over his right shoulder where it wouldn't be so much of a burden. "That Jackass may know his own subject, if in a rather too personal way," as he said that he threw a glance at Harry who returned it with a slight nod, "But he has no business messing in mine. That jab about the Homunculi proves it."

Hermione's disapproving glare switched to one of curiosity, "What is a Homunculus anyway? I don't think I've ever come across any information about one before."

Ed shook his head, a cold feeling sinking into his stomach again at the mere mention of those creatures, "Nor are you likely to." He answered softly, just managing to suppress a shiver, "My guess would be that any information to be gained on them would most likely be restricted. Even back home, research into their creation and even about them in general is very strictly controlled."

Ed pulled himself up short, realizing that he may have let a little too much information out on that statement as Hermione stared at him with a speculative expression as if to say, _'Then how do you know so much about them?'_

He was saved from saying anything else as someone called from behind them, "Harry! Hey, Harry!"

Turning around, they found a student in Gryffindor robes hurrying towards them with a roll of parchment in his hand.

"This is for you." He panted as he reached them, handing the note to Harry, "Listen, I heard you were the new Captain," he continued seriously, nodding to a badge on Harry's chest, Ed hadn't thought much of it, but it must mean something important. "I was wondering when you were holding trails." The student finished, a hopeful note in his voice.

Harry rather distractedly answered him as he studied the parchment in his hands, "I'm not sure yet. But the notice will be posted alerting everyone when I do."

The other student nodded, then waved at them as he took off again, Harry not even seeming to notice as he unrolled the message.

"So what is it?" Ed asked as Ron read over Harry's shoulder.

The other boy shook his head, "It's a message from Dumbledore. He said he was going to give me private lessons this year, I don't know what on yet but this is a message for my first one." Here he chuckled, "Ha, Snape isn't going to be happy. Dumbledore has set it to be Saturday night, eight o'clock. That means I can't do detention."

During break, Ed asked about the badge Harry wore, which led to an in depth conversation on the finer points of a game called Quidditch, which, apparently, was a sport played on flying _broomsticks_.

Ed wasn't sure if they were pulling his leg or not, but they certainly seemed sincere. Sighing and shaking his head about _another_ weird aspect he just has to tell Al about, he followed the others as they led the way down into the dungeons where the potions class was to be held.

Oddly enough, this was one of the classes he was looking forward to. There didn't really seemed to be much magic involved, just the exact measuring of components, something he was expert at.

There were only about a dozen students waiting in the hall outside the classroom and a lone Hufflepuff greeted Ed's three companions heartily, Ron explaining that he was an old member of the DA they had formed in the previous year.

The door to the classroom opened behind them and the teacher, Professor Slughorn if Ed remembered correctly, walked out, greeting Harry and another student, Zambini, before turning his attention to the rest of the class.

Strangely enough, Harry seemed to ignore the man's obviously enthusiastic welcome and brushed past him with out even glancing in his direction as they entered the classroom.

Ed was hard pressed not to sneeze at the vapours that filled the room. There were large cauldrons bubbling at intervals along the room, each one giving off a different, odd smell.

The students split up along the benches, and Ed found himself sitting alongside Harry, Ron and Hermione. The cauldron at the end of their bench was giving off the most interesting smell and to tell the truth, it was making Ed a little light headed. It reminded him of the scent of metal and oil and strangely enough, the smell of Winry's hair. Looking along his bench he saw Harry and Ron taking interested sniffs and giving each other a rather lazy grin.

Trying to shake off whatever the potion was doing to him, Ed glanced at the other potions, trying to identify them by their appearance.

"Now then, everyone." The teacher called their attention to the front of the room where his massive outline seemed to quiver through the many, shimmering vapours,

"Scales out if you will and potion kits. Don't forget your copies of _Advanced Potion Making_…"

Harry and Ron raised their hands, and Harry called out "Sir?"

"Harry, m'boy?"

"I haven't got a book or scales or anything, sir, neither has Ron. We didn't realize we'd be able to do the N.E.W.T course, you see…"

Professor Slughorn waved lazily, "Ah, yes. Professor McGonagall did mention… not to worry, my dear boy, not to worry at all. You can use the ingredients from the store cupboard today and I'm sure we can lend you some scales and there is a small stock of old books here, they'll do until you can get your own."

Slughorn strode over to a corner cupboard and after a moment foraging emerged with two very battered looking copies of the course text book, which he gave to Harry and Ron along with two sets of tarnished scales.

"Now then." Slughorn returned to his position in front of the class and looked jovially around at his students, "I have prepared a few potions for you to look at, just out of interest. By the end of this course you should be able to make each of them. Can anyone tell me what this one is?" he indicated the cauldron nearest the bench that the Slytherin students had taken.

Ed's hand was in the air at the same time as Hermione, who looked over at him in surprise, along with Harry and Ron.

"Yes, young lady." Slughorn nodded to Hermione and dropped her hand.

"It's Veritaserum. A colourless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth." She recited.

"Very good, very good!" Slughorn exclaimed happily, "Now," he continued, pointing to the cauldron nearest the Ravenclaw table, "This one is fairly well known, featured in a few ministry leaflets lately, who can tell me…"

Again, Ed's hand shot into the air along with Hermione's, this time the teacher pointed to Ed.

"It's Polyjuice Potion sir." he said calmly, recognize the slow-bubbling, mudlike substance from descriptions he had come across in his books.

"Excellent, and what does it do?"

Ed thought that was a rather redundant question considering, as Slughorn had mentioned, their were flyers out warning of the use of this exact potion, "I turns the drinker into the visage of another person, as long as they have added a sample of the subjects DNA to the mix."

Slughorn looked impressed, "And can it be used to turn yourself into an animal?" he asked.

Ed snorted, "You can try, but the results should be rather interesting. From what I've read, there is no way of knowing what the result might be of mixing Human and animal DNA and even if it did work, I'd imagine you would have a hell of a time changing back." Strangely enough, Hermione looked rather embarrassed as he said that last bit, Ron and Harry rather amused.

"Very well done, now this one… yes?" this time he pointed to Hermione again, looking rather bemused.

"It's Amortentia!"

"It is indeed. It seems almost foolish to ask," said Slughorn, looking back and forth between her and Ed, "But I assume one of you knows what it does?"

"Yes sir," Hermione answered, "It is the most powerful love potion there is."

"Indeed it is, you recognized it I suppose by it's distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," Hermione said enthusiastically, "and it is supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us, I smell freshly mowed grass and new parchment and…" she turned lightly pink and didn't finish the sentence, and Ed felt like blushing too as he recognized the scent he was picking up.

"May I ask your name my dear, and yours to lad?" Slughorn asked the two of them, ignoring the embarrassment on both their faces.

"Edward Elric."

"And I'm Hermione Granger."

"Granger, Granger. You wouldn't happen to be related to Hector-Dagworth Granger would you? Who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, I don't thin so sir, I'm muggle born you see."

Ed noticed Malfoy, on the other side of the room lean over to whisper something to the student beside him and the two of the snickered.

The teacher on the other hand beamed and looked from Harry to Hermione, "Oho! "_One of my best friends is muggle born, and she is the best in our year._" I'm assuming this is the friend of whom you spoke, Harry?"

"Yes sir." Harry answered.

Turing his attention to Ed he beamed, "Your name I recognise as well, Dumbledore told me you would be joining us for this year. I take it you are the young Alchemist I was told about?"

Ed nodded shortly in response, not particularly liking this man, he seemed the type that slithered up to anyone he seemed even remotely important.

"Well, well. Take twenty points for Griffindor, each of you." Slughorn told them genially.

Hermione turned to Harry with a radiant expression and whispered, "Did you really tell him I was the best in the year? Oh, Harry!"

"Well, what's so impressive about that?" whispered Ron, who looked rather annoyed, "You are the best in the year, I'd've told him that if he'd asked me!"

Hermione smiled but shushed him so they could hear the teacher and Ron looked disgruntled.

Ed looked between the two of, them a small smile growing on his face, _'Heh, interesting'_.

"Of course, Amortentia doesn't actually create _love_, as such. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is perhaps the most powerful potion in this room. Oh yes," he said, nodding gravely at the sceptical expression on a few faces, "When you have seen as much of the world as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love. Now, it is time to start work…"

He was interrupted by the Hufflepuff student, Ernie Macmillan Ron had said his name was. "But sir, you haven't told us about that one yet." He pointed to a small black cauldron on the teachers desk that bubbled with a liquid that looked like molten gold.

"Oho, that. Yes. Well that one, ladies and gentlemen is a most curious little potion called Felix Felictis." He smiled when Hermione gave a small gasp of recognition and Ed eyed the bubbling pot uneasily. "I take it you know what this potion does?"

"It's liquid luck." Hermione answered, her voice excited, "It makes you lucky!"

Ed wasn't sure if it was such a safe potion of itself. He had read up on this particular potion, thinking it might be of some use, but it was one that had to be used cautiously. It was known to make people reckless, and if anyone knew the consequences of being reckless, Ed was certainly qualified.

Everyone in the class had suddenly become very interested in what the Professor was saying, even Malfoy was giving him his full and undivided attention as Slughorn outlined the drawbacks of taking it.

"It is desperately tricky to make and disastrous to get wrong. If taken in excess it causes recklessness and dangerous overconfidence. And if taken in large quantities it is highly toxic. But if brewed correctly and taken sparingly, you will find that all your endeavours tend to go right, at least until the effect wears off, anyway. And this, is the prize for this lesson."

The entire room was silent.

"One tiny bottle of Felix Felictis," he told them softly, "Enough for twelve hours worth of luck. Although I do trust the winner to use it honestly, seeing as it is banned during sporting events and say, exams." He looked at them all knowingly, "Now, we have a little over an hour left to us, enough time for you all to make a passable attempt at making the Draft of Living Death. The person who comes up with the best effort, will receive the potion. Off you go!"

Their was a scraping as everyone pulled their cauldrons towards them and started placing weights on their scales. Ed looked around the silent room, marveling at the concentration on everyone's faces.

Harry seemed to be having trouble reading form his borrowed text book, that looked as though it had been scribbles in, and Hermione was feverishly cutting up ingredients.

Raising his hand, Ed waited until the teacher had come up to him before he spoke softly, "I'm not a wizard, so this is a little outside my area of expertise, but Dumbledore told me to adapt the lessons to my alchemy."

Slughorn smiled at him, "Not to worry, my boy. See if you can create the potion using your skills. I am rather curious myself to see how you manage. From what I understand, your form of alchemy is very different to that which we are familiar with."

With the teachers tactic permission, Ed felt relieved as he drew a piece of chalk out of his sleeve. He could, of course, do this without a circle, but he figured that keeping the extent of his expertise to himself was probably a prudent course of action.

Hermione seemed to be becoming rather frazzled by the look of it, her hair seeming to become frizzier as she stared intently into her cauldron. Every now and then she would glare incredulously into Harry's cauldron, who seemed to be further along then her.

Laying out all of the ingredients, Ed ran over the list in the text book then thought back over his earlier alchemy lessons. Coming up with an idea, he cleared a space on the desk and drew a basic transmutation circle in chalk, drawing curious looks from some others in the room. He had the feeling that if they were not all so competitive to get that potion, they would all be watching what he was doing.

Placing each of the ingredients in the circle, he placed his hands carefully along the outside of the circle and concentrated. A faint blue light shone for a moment and the ingredients on the table reappeared perfectly sliced, chopped or juiced. As far as he could tell, this was a much more efficient way to go about things. This way he could get a more exact measurement and pure samples of the juices without needing to go to so much trouble. As soon as he second checked all his measurements, he drew a slightly more complex array and placed his cauldron in the center. Tipping his ingredients into it carefully, he checked everything was in order, then placed his hands along the circle once again. The flash this time was brighter then before and when it cleared he looked into his cauldron to view the pale liquid inside. Reading through his text book, he nodded. By the description, it looked as though he had succeeded.

Looking up, he saw the teacher watching him carefully and without him having to say anything, Slughorn came over to his desk. "I take it that you are done?" he asked and Ed nodded. Looking into the cauldron, Slughorn raised an eyebrow, his face curious, "It looks right at least." Waving his wand gently over the top, he muttered something under his breath and a faint purple glow surrounded the completed potion before sinking away. A respectful look spread over Slughorns face, "Well, my boy, it looks as though you have created a powerful potion. Well done."

Looking around at the others in the room, he nodded in satisfaction, "And times… up!" he called, "Stop stirring, please!"

He made his way around the room, inspecting the concoctions his class had come up with. Some he gave a slight nod to, other he passed over. Ron's potion, that resembled liquid liquorice, he gave a rueful grimace. When he came to Hermione's he gave an approving nod. But when he came to Harry's his eyebrows shot up, "Well, well, we have clear winner here. Excellent, excellent Harry." Looking around the room, he nodded, well pleased, "I know I said that there would only be one winner, but I think there are two here that did an exceptional job. Harry, it looks as though you have inherited your mothers deft hand at potions, well done." He handed over a small bottle of gold liquid, then he turned to Ed, "But we cannot overlook, young Mr Elric here and his exceptional success in integrating the recipe into his own skills to create a truly powerful potion." With that he handed Ed an identical vial. "Well done, you two. Use it well."

As they left the dungeon, Hermione glared back and forth between Ed an Harry, a disgruntled look on her face, "I can understand Ed getting this, even though I have little idea how alchemy works, but how on earth were you doing that?" she demanded at last, turning on Harry.

"Got lucky I suppose." Harry answered evasively, glancing around a the other students within earshot.

Once they reached the common room and secured themselves a quiet table, Harry drew out the ratty potions book he had been given and explained that he had been following hand written notes that the previous owner had scribbled in the margins.

Hermione's face became stonier as he talked.

"I suppose you think I cheated." He demanded, taking in her expression.

"Well, it wasn't exactly your own work, was it?" she demanded stiffly.

Ed could understand why she was upset, after all she had been beaten only because Harry had some useful shortcuts, but he didn't see a reason to blame Harry for it. After all, there was no advancement in science, if risks are not taken and it looked as though the old owner's experiments were successful.

Hermione continued to glare at Harry in disapproval, pulling the book towards her, she ignored Harry's indignant shout. "I thought you had learned better then to trust anonymous instructions you find inn books by now." She told him sourly. Tapping the book sharply with her wand, she muttered "_Specialis revelio._"

Nothing whatsoever happened.

"Happy now?" Harry demanded dryly."

"It seems to be alright." Hermione mused, glaring at the book suspiciously, "I mean, it seems like just an ordinary textbook."

"Good, then I'll have it back." Harry snatched the book back but fumbled it and the book landed on the floor, it's front cover open.

Ed was sure that only he and Harry saw what was written there. As soon as he read it, Harry snapped the book shut, looking up into Ed's eyes. Ed gave him a slight nod of understanding, he would keep quiet. After all, he didn't understand the reference, and he was sure Harry didn't either. Written across the bottom corner of the inside cover were the words:

_Property of the Half Blood Prince._

…

AN/ In regards to tootsiepopgurl's concerns, don't worry, I'm not mad, in fact, I welcome the input. In regards to Ed's limbs, don't worry, it is not as big a mistake as it looks, you're the only one who picked up on the discrepancy though. I'm planning on putting in a more detailed explanation in a later chapter of why the barrier did effect his automail. I didn't mess up on the electrical thing, don't panic. And thanks for the heads up on the spelling error. I must have overlooked that one.

Thanks to those who let me know about the lead/gold thing. I had a feeling it was something like that, but it seems as though I have missed an eps or two and I have only seen to eps 32. Oh well. I think I'll leave my explanation in though, it fits in better with the whole scientific point of view thing I am trying to cultivate in regards to Ed.

Seeya.


	11. Ch 11: Transfiguration Troubles

AN/ Ha, two chapters in one day. This ones a little short though. Never mind. Heh heh, get a nice confrontation with Snape though. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Yeah, you all know. Not mine.

**Ch 11: Transfiguration troubles **

The last two classes Ed was introduced to during his first couple of days were Charms and Transfiguration.

The Charms class was more of an elective then anything else, considering he couldn't actually perform any of the spells. Dumbledore's reasoning behind putting him the class in the first place being in fulfilling the other side of his mission, studying the forms of magic and how they worked. His main task was to learn to recognise different types of charms that had been laid and to try and come up with ways, if possible, to counter them. Without the use of magic. Mostly he could do that by studying the books but he was welcome to take part in the classes to see first hand the results of the spells and to practice any of his theories under the supervision of the teacher. All in all he was rather pleased with the arrangement. He didn't necessarily have to join the class, not that he minded, seeing as the Professor was even shorter then he was, if he chose, he could spend the lesson studying.

Transfiguration on the other hand gave him some concerns.

The second morning, lining up outside the Transfiguration room for the first class of the day, Ed went over in his head everything he had studied on the subject. Mostly he was confident that this class wouldn't give him too much trouble, after all most of it was pretty much basic Transmutation. But there were some aspects that had him uncomfortable.

"Hey Ed." A voice called from behind him and he turned to greet Harry and Ron as they jogged up. Hermione arriving just after them.

"So, you ready for this class too?" Hermione asked, a little ruefully, causing Ed to blink at her in curiosity.

Ron laughed at his expression, "She's just annoyed that you have managed to keep up with her in class, even though you only started this year."

Hermione glared at him them turned her nose up playfully, "I am not." Her expression turned curious, "But how many textbooks did you study anyway? I assumed that you had no background experience in any of this considering you said that you didn't even know about magic until recently."

Ed shrugged, looking up at the heavy oak door they stood in front of, "I don't. I just bought all of the books listed under each of the subjects from first year onwards. The seventh year textbooks go into a little more detail, but I found some other reference books around the place as well. I figured that I if I got as much information as I could, I'd have more of an understanding of what I was getting into. I can let you have a look at them later if you wish, although I think some of them contain information that would probably be considered forbidden to underage wizards." As he spoke he became aware of the startled silence and he blinked, turning to look at his companions.

Ron was looking at him with an expression of frank horror on his face, Harry just shook his head and Hermione stared at him in shock, "You have already studied _all_ of the material for the entire seven years?" she almost squeaked.

"Man, you're nuts." Ron exclaimed, shaking his head.

The door opened, saving him from having to answer as they all turned to face the teacher which turned out to be Professor McGonagall.

She smiled at the four of them then stepped back to allow them to enter her domain.

Sitting down at one of the desks, Ed looked around at the cages along the walls containing all number of birds and other small animals and he felt his unease grow.

"Good morning, Sixth years. Welcome to advanced Transfiguration." Professor McGonagall greeted as she made her way to the front of the room.

"Today we will be doing a little revision from last year but taking everything up a notch. I know you all remember the exercise we had turning small animals into water goblets, today I want you to do the same but I want you to add your own signature to the finished product. You all know the incantation, _Feriverto_ to those who forgot." She swept her slightly amused gaze around the room, "What you need to do is to add your own distinctive suffix to the spell, adding a personal touch. For example," she pointed her wand at a large bird perched quietly on her desk, tapping the creature three times on its back, "_Feriverto Florus._" She stated clearly. The bird morphed into a beautiful crystal goblet with delicate blown glass flowers spiralling up its stem.

The class gasped in delight, Ed just narrowed his eyes and shifted in his chair.

"Alright everyone, you know what you have to do, but think carefully on what you add, I don't want anyone creating something that will eat the class."

Excited chatter ran through the room as students exchanged ideas on what they would try, Ed merely stared at the frog that had been placed on his desk in front of him.

Professor McGonagall must have noticed that he wasn't as thrilled as the rest of the class as she walked up to his desk and tapped a finger on it to catch his attention.

"Is there a problem, Mr Elric?" she asked as he looked up into her eyes.

Ed grimaced, knowing that he was probably going to get a lecture of some description but at the moment, he really didn't care, "I'm sorry Professor." He told her rather stiffly, "But there is no way that I can do this."

She blinked at him in surprise and frowned slightly, "I'm not sure what you are talking about." She told him, a little confused, "Transfiguration is pretty much the same as basic transmutation as far as I have been able to find out. You shouldn't have too much trouble."

Ed shook his head almost violently, a sick feeling settling in his stomach, "You don't understand, Professor." He explained urgently, drawing the attention of the rest of the class, "I could probably do the transmutation without too much trouble, but the problem is that using live animals in such a transmutation isn't moral. Using living creatures in any form is severely frowned upon."

McGonagall looked, if anything even more confused, an expression obviously not on her face very often by the curious looks thrown her by the other students, "Look, Mr Elric. All we have to do is change the animals, back. We don't leave them that way. Not any of them are ever harmed in anyway."

Ed held back the urge to either yell or burst into tears, he wasn't sure which, flashes of Nina and her dog Alexander flickering before his eyes, "I'm not talking about your spell, I'm talking about doing the same with alchemy. You see, a transmutation using live specimens is permanent. The fusion has to be made on such a small scale that it is irreversible."

McGonagall's eyes widened and understanding dawned on her face, "Very well, Mr Elric. I understand your objection." Looking around the room, she found a broken, silver handled mirror, left over another class, Ed figured, "Can you use this?"

Sighing in relief, Ed gladly took the mirror, "Easily Professor."

That being said, there was no way any of the other students were going to go back to their work until they saw what he came up with.

Taking out his piece of chalk, Ed sketched out a circle on the desk, "Using the mirror, I can create quiet a few different things." He explained, figuring that if they were going to watch he may as well explain what he was doing, "Because of the glass and the silver, I have a variety of base elements to work with, but with keeping with what we are doing here, I'll keep it simple."

Finishing the array, he placed the mirror in the centre and placed his hands carefully around its rim. "To achieve anything, something of equal value most be offered in exchange." He murmured, watching as blue light spread along his design. The array flashed brightly and the class gasped. Sitting in the centre was a beautiful goblet, the same as the one the teacher had created except where hers was made purely of crystal, his was crystal, with a silver base and stem as was the cascade of flowers wrapping around it.

"Well done Mr Elric." Professor McGonagall complimented him, her eyes shining behind her glasses, "Well, lets see if anyone else can do as well as him, using their initiative."

The class went back to their planning and Ed sat back with a sigh of relief. He didn't care what anyone said, there was no was he was ever going to use live animals in any of his work.

The rest of the week went without too much fuss, Ed continued to familiarise himself with the castle and delved into some of the books he hadn't gotten to yet. But by Saturday he had run out of things to study. Thinking of the passes Dumbledore had given him, he headed to the library after dinner, telling the others he would see them later. They had been having an argument about Harry's potions book again and it was starting to wear thin on his nerves. Besides, Harry had his appointment with Dumbledore, so wasn't going to be back until later and Ed didn't feel like being grilled for information by the other two at present.

Walking through the corridors, he passed many students heading for their common rooms but he ignored them, not really caring about what they thought he was doing.

When he reached the library, he found most of the candles out, the only illumination coming from one that stood over the main desk where the librarian was finishing off same last minute cataloguing. She glanced up as he entered and frowned, "Students should be heading back to the common rooms."

She told him sternly, her voice soft from long habit, He reached into his pocket and drew out both his passes, the one for access to the restricted books and the other giving him permission to be out after curfew. She read both slips of paper, her eyebrow rasing into her hair at Dumbledore's unmistakable signature.

"I don't know what you are studying to get permission like that." She told him bluntly, "But I trust you to take care. Also don't stay out too late and if you would, blow out the candle as you leave."

Ed nodded and took one of the holders off the desk, lighting it on the standing candle. He left the taller candle burning as he made his way over to that interesting corner that had been calling him all week, ignoring the eyes of the librarian that followed him in puzzlement before the woman packed up the last of her work and retired for the night.

He spent maybe three hours scanning the shelves, opening a few books here and there and noting down titles in a notebook he carried in his robes. He didn't want to get into too much tonight, but he did want to have an idea what was there so when he really started to scan through all of this, he'd have a good idea where to start.

Pulling out his watch, he was mildly surprised that it was close to midnight so he placed the book her had been scanning back on the shelf and placed the candle up beside the one on the main desk, taking a stub of a smaller candle in his right hand, he lit it and blew the other two out. No reason to walk around this place in the dark, that was just stupid and his metal hand was certainly not going to have trouble with the hot wax that dribbled down over his glove.

He hoped that he could make it back to the tower without too much trouble, but it looked as though, as usual, his luck was out. '_Che, maybe I should drink that potion.'_ He though sourly when none other then Professor Snape himself rounded the corner ahead of him to block the corridor, a nasty smirk on his face. _'That damn expression. It's even more irritating that Colonel annoying himself.'_

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr Elric."

Ed barely held back from rolling his eyes and remained silent, knowing how much it would irritate the teacher. From the sour looked it seemed as though he was succeeding.

"What are you doing out of bed after hours, Elric?" the renewed smirk on his face clearly stated that he thought he finally had something on a student that had been irksome from the start.

Ed raised an eyebrow, letting a bored look cross his face, "I really don't see where that is any of your business, Snape." He had a hard time not laughing at the fury that flashed across Snape's usually perpetually sour face.

"That's Professor to you, Elric. I think fifty points from Griffindor for your mouth should be sufficient, and as for you being out after hours…"

Ed very nearly sneered at the man, reaching into his pocket he pulled out his hall pass, "For your information _Professor_, I have permission to go anywhere I please."

The look on his face was priceless, rewarding Ed a hundred fold for keeping hold of his temper.

He watched in fascination as the man's face went all but purple with rage as he read what was written on that small slip of paper. A slip of paper that made it impossible for him to touch Ed in any way if it is in relation to his being out after curfew.

With snarl of fury, Snape turned on his heal, his robes billowing around him like a shroud and stalked off down the corridor without saying so much as another word.

Letting loose a snicker of satisfaction, Ed resumed his walk back to the tower, that would have been rather unpleasant if Dumbledore hadn't given him a way out.

Reaching the portrait hole, he gave the fat lady the password and slipped through into common room to be met by Harry, who looked for all the world as if he had been waiting for him.

"Ed." He greeted, "I have something I wish to talk to you about."

……………..

AN/ Sorry this one is a little short, but things get a little more interesting from here on out.


	12. Ch 12: Secrets Revealed

AN/ This is a short one I know, but don't worry the next one will make up for it. Nearly all secrets will soon be out in the open. Enjoy this one, the next won't be far off.

Disclaimer: Neither series is mine.

**Ch : Secrets Revealed**

Ed sat down across from the other boy and eyed him wearily. Harry's green eyes were confused as he looked back at him and his expression was grim.

"I don't exactly know why, but Professor Dumbledore has informed me to fill you in on a few things. I thought that perhaps he had seen we have become friends, but the information he has told me to reveal to you proves that there is something else going on here."

Ed wasn't sure how to answer, he knew they were in a precarious situation here, without any backup, so he had been careful to follow his standing orders to keep a low profile, but things could become awkward if Harry and the others began asking questions.

Harry must have seen the unease in his eyes, for he raises a hand, his expression rueful, but understanding, "Look, don't worry. We all have our secrets. If Dumbledore thinks you should know everything, then I guess you're now in the loop."

Sitting back in his chair, Harry stared into the dying flames, his face reflective, "I'm not sure how much you have uncovered," he began and Ed twitched, _'How much about me has he guessed?'_ he thought in discomfort as Harry continued, "Frankly, I'm not sure where to begin."

Leaning on his elbows, Ed gave him his undivided attention, this could very well be the information Mustang was looking for.  
Harry scratched at his messy hair and glanced in his direction before he sighed in defeat, "Alright, well I guess I could answer one of the questions you asked Hermione. On the train here you asked her if there was any truth behind the rumours on the prophecy etcetera, the whole chosen one thing. Truth is, for a long time I wasn't sure what to make of it."

Ed watched a variety of emotions flicker over Harry's face, grief, anger, fear, terrible sadness and guilt. When he continued, his voice was so low, he could barely hear it.

"That night we went to the ministry, I had been tricked into believing that my godfather was in danger from Voldemort's lackeys." He snorted in self contempt, "I managed to convince the others to come with me to save him. Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, even Ginny I don't think any of us was ready for what we found."

He shivered and Ed resisted the urge to copy him at the horror on his face, "They were waiting for us. They had lured us there in the hopes of me obtaining the prophecy for them, Voldemort needed to know what it said, he only had a vague idea. He'd been messing with my dreams for months until he got through."

Harry shivered again and Ed saw a haunted look cross his face, one he knew all to well. Guilt.

"We were attacked," he continued softly, "It's rather a miracle we made it out. During the fight, I found the prophecy they were after but it was broken, but not before I heard some of it. we didn't make it out unscathed either. Ron was attacked by some brain thing that left him pretty messed up, Ginny got her ankle broken, Neville his nose, but worst of all was what happened when the others came to rescue us."

Harry looked up and caught Ed's eyes and the young alchemist felt sympathy rise in his chest at the tears that filled the deep green eyes over a look of self reproach.

"Sirius wasn't in danger at all, we had figured that out by that point, but he had figured out that something was up and had followed us, along with some of the others. During the fight, he was hit and before any of us could do anything he fell through this device, some sort of portal. It is supposedly impossible for any one to return."

"I take it this Sirius was your Godfather?" Ed asked gently, knowing form the pain in the others eyes that this was hard for him to retell.

Harry nodded and sighed heavily, seeming to regain some of his control, "Yes, and the only family I had." He said softly, a comment that had Ed remembering his own family, his little brother, who was not with him as he had been constantly the last three and a half years.

Harry coughed slightly and Ed drew his attention back to him, shaking off his thoughts, as the other continued his tale.

"Voldemort eventually came himself, when he became too impatient with his death eaters. I met him in the upper gallery. That was where I worked out how far into my head he had managed to get. Dumbledore came for us as well, and he arrived in the room not long after Voldemort. While he fought him off, that bastard got into my mind somehow, twisted it so that the only way to kill him was to kill me as well."

Ed suppressed a shiver at the calm look that stole over Harry's face. "I was ready to die. Then I would have at least been able to see Sirius again. But something broke his hold on me, it's complicated but it is similar to what happened when he had tried to kill me in the past. Before it had been my mothers love, this time it was my own emotions." Shaking off whatever had him in it's grip, Harry seemed to focus again. "Anyway, when we got back here Dumbledore gave me some more information. He told me the reason that Voldemort was after me. The reason that my parents were killed. That prophecy. And then he told me what it was. _'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…'_"

Ed shivered at the words, _'Damn, that's creepy.'_

Harry gave him a small smile, "You're the only person who knows this, other then Dumbledore and me. Not even the other members of the Order. They know what is happening but they do not know everything."

Ed blinked at his wording, "The Order?" maybe he really had hit the nail this time.

Harry nodded gravely, "Yes, the Order of the Phoenix. It is a group of wizards and witches working directly with Dumbledore. I've been told to tell you that if you need to contact them at all, you should go through Mr Weasley. You'll get to meet him later, I have no doubt."

Shaking his head, Harry looked Ed over curiously, "You know, I would dearly love to know where you come into all of this. The way Dumbledore is trusting you is strange, considering we've only just met you."

Ed seriously had to go over the information he had been given, but he gave a small smile at Harry's comment, "I can't really tell you much at the moment." He answered him regretfully, "But I can tell you this. You can trust me."

Harry studied him for a moment more then shrugged, "Well, I guess I really don't have that much of a choice. But then again, it is nice to have at least one other person know the rest of the details." His expression suddenly became curious, "By the way, why the hell are you wandering around the halls after lights out? You could get in serious trouble."

Thinking on his confrontation with Snape, Ed snickered, "Another thing you don't have to worry about." He replied cryptically, "Lets just say that some of the stuff I can't tell you revolves around me having freedom of movement when needed." Leaving it at that, Ed took his leave and headed up to his bed. He would have to send a report off in the morning, but at least this time he actually had something to report.

The next morning, Ed woke at dawn and slipped quietly down into the common room, pen, ink and paper in hand. Setting himself up in one of the corner desks he set down everything Harry had told him the night before. He was just finishing off when Ron came sleepily down the stairs, followed not long after by Harry and Hermione.

The three of them joined him at his table and Harry cleared his throat before anyone else could speak, "Professor Dumbledore said that I could tell you guys about what our 'lesson' was about last night."

The others sat forward in interest and Ed kept his pen ready, knowing that this two would be something Mustang would want to know. The letter in front of him was coded, because he had found out that mail was regularly searched at the moment, so the others couldn't read what he was writing anyway.

Harry told them quietly what he had learned of Voldemorts heritage, interrupted now and then as the others asked him questions, Ed on the other hand noted down everything he said. There was not much he could do with the information yet, but Mustang had said that part of the reason they were there was to help track this creep down, so nothing was a waist.

As Harry finished his story, Ron and Hermione mused over what use the information could have, Harry on the other hand watched Ed.

"Tell me Ed, this whole thing about Voldemort and everything, had you heard of it before you came here?"

Suddenly the seriousness of this situation clashed horribly with something in his mind and Ed started to snicker hopelessly.

"Hey Ed, is something the matter?" Ron asked him in concern as he started to laugh all out.

"No, nothing is wrong." He chuckled, "It is just so stupid. I mean this guy is causing so much fear and chaos and he has a stupid name like Voldemort. I mean come on, what sort of bad guy calls himself Lord Volemort and The Dark Lord. I mean where is this guys self respect?"

Ron stared at him scandalously, where Hermione grinned and Harry outright laughed.

"You have a point." Harry chuckled, "The worst part is so many people are afraid to say his name. Never really looked at it from that point of view though, it was supposed to be all intimidating, shedding his old name and taking on a great and feared persona." He snickered along with Ed, seemingly forgetting his question, for which Ed was grateful as he really didn't know how to answer.

Later that day, Ed's luck seemed to have flown completely out the window as his mission took another of the usual twists that seemed to plague him. And it all started when he met Peeves.


	13. Ch 13: Poltergeist Mayhem

AN/ I'm sorry for the wait, I haven't had access to the internet for the past week. But here is a longer one to make up for it. Yay, finally the others find out. Heh.

Oh, and again I apologise for the misspelling of Auror, my stupid spell checker kept automatically changing it on me without my noticing, keh. Oh well.

Disclaimer: I know, Not mine. Unfortunately.

**Ch 13: Poltergeist Mayhem, Peeves Spills the Beans**

Harry, Hermione and Ron had gone off for Harry to hold tryouts for the house team and Ed had told them he would catch up to them later. He really was interested in finding out more about this sport of theirs but he had other things on his mind. Besides, he figured watching a game would be more interesting then a tryout.

Instead he finished his report to Mustang and headed up to the owlery to find his pale barn owl, which he had called Hweel. Both her, and his huge eagle owl, Kauri, swooped down to greet him as he walked into the loft that was set aside for the school owls or any belonging to students. Greeting both of them with soft scratches, he handed them the pellets Harry had given him, saying they were owl treats and looking around he caught sight of Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig and Ron's tiny, hyper owlet Pigwidgion.

Shaking his head at the odd pair he took out the folded letter, tying it to Hweels leg and scratching at her neck feathers, "Take this to Mustang, would you lovely one?" he asked her.

He had gotten over his nervousness of his birds and actually found himself talking to them as if they were friends and as a result the two birds had become enamoured with him, they would fly through fire if he asked, just as the store owner had said.

Hweel gave a happy hoot and with a last nibble at his human fingers, she launched herself out of the loft. He stayed for a little longer, scratching at Kauri's head then made his way back down, deciding to see what the others were doing.

He's just made it to the lower corridors where a few other students were heading to and from their respective common rooms when a grating, thoroughly _annoying_ voice broke out from behind him.

"Potty wee Potter has a new friend, one who's even shrimpier then he is."

He froze in the middle of the hallway, his back going ramrod straight. He had managed to keep his temper over the week, mainly by deliberately provoking Snape but he had managed to remain relatively calm, as such, he gritted his teeth, determined to ignore the insult.

Turning slowly, he came face to, well transparent face, with an upside down ghost. One with a mocking expression on his pointed visage.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quiet hear you." He told the thing carefully, his voice _very_ controlled.

The ghost smirked, "Peeves called him a shrimp, is he deaf as well?" he taunted.

"Are you, a ghost, making fun of my height?" he asked incredulously, at the moment too surprised for his usual fury to set in.

"Peeves? Hell no, one has to have height to begin with, for someone to make fun of it. Maybe if he gained some, Peevsie might consider it."

That was it. Ed's patience, never very long to begin with, packed up and left on vacation.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP, YOU USELESS WISP OF VAPOUR?" he stood with his arms tight at his sides, his face almost as red as his usual coat.

Peeves on the other hand, his expression took on a look of glee that someone was actually insulting him back for a change.

"That would be you. Crazy alchemist midget, not even a wizard is he? What is he doing here one wonders? Or is he just trying to pass himself off as a sixth year when he is just a loser firsty?"

"MIDGET? LOSER FIRSTY? LISTEN SMOKE BRAIN, AT LEAST I'M STILL ALIVE."

By now their little 'discussion' had drawn the attention of a bunch of students and they gathered, at a respectful distance, to watch.

"Well, well. The tiny wizard wannabe fights back," Peeves taunted, cackling nastily, "His temper is even shorted then he is."

Ed felt his blood boil. He had been rather enjoying the novelty of not having Mustangs insults to put up with, and here was this damn _ghost_ throwing the same ones at him.

"Why you, you're gonna pay for that one, you poor excuse for a horror story reject."

"Oh, and what is he going to do to Peeves, Mr Fullmetal Alchemist, turn me into a radish?" at the sound of his Alchemist name, Ed froze, his furious expression replaced by a nervous tick, _'Oh hell.'_

The crowd of students looked curious at the name but before they could start asking questions Professor Dumbledore slipped through the group and looked up at the still cackling poltergeist, "Peeves, I though I tole you before not to listen in on other peoples conversations. Especially if they are mine."

At the sound of his voice, the whispers stopped and Peeves flipped himself right side up. "It is extremely rude for one to use a nickname that they have no idea what is behind it." he continued, talking to the ghost but Ed could see the students listening as well and he silently thanked the old man. It would take a lot of explaining where his name came from but Dumbledore had basically told them to leave it alone unless Ed told them otherwise.

The ghost gave a rather mocking bow, chuckled again and slipped through a wall, the headmaster, in the mean time, turned back to the gathered students, "I think that you all can go back to what you were doing. Shoo please, there is no reason to loiter around in the halls."

The crowd slowly dispersed and Dumbledore turned to face Ed again. The small alchemist saw the thoughtful look in those blue eyes and suppressed a sigh, somehow he had the feeling that things were going to become complicated.

"Mr Elric, I hope you realise that news of this incident will be over the school in less then an hour?" the old man's voice was light with amusement but there was an underlay of seriousness.

Ed did sigh this time and tugged at his hair, all this waiting and pretending to be something he had never been in his life was beginning to scrape on his nerves. "Yes sir. Although I think it will be alright. Nobody here knows of the significance of my other name, so they can just pass it off as a weird nickname."

Dumbledore nodded, his expression serious. Glancing over Ed's shoulder his voice lowered slightly, "I think you are right, but I would suggest telling your friends." He inclined his head slightly and Ed looked around to see his three friends coming towards him, talking amongst themselves, turning back to the principal he caught the older man's eye as Dumbledore gave him a grave nod, "I shall leave it up to you how much you tell them. But I have found that leaving those three in the dark usually causes more harm then good. I'm sure Harry has told you some of what is going on, I think it would be prudent for them to have some of the rest of the information." He nodded again and swept down the hall, leaving Ed to greet Harry, Ron and Hermione as they reached him.

"Heya Ed." Ron called cheerfully and Ed raised his hand in response. He had no idea what he was going to tell them, this would take some thought.

"We're going down to see Hagrid." Hermione told him as he joined them, walking through the halls, "We haven't seen him since the welcome feast so we thought we would pay him a visit."

Ed nodded rather distractedly, trying to turn his thoughts away from his not so small problem, he blinked up at Harry, "So how did your try outs go?"

The other boy shrugged, a rather annoyed look on his face, "Not too badly," he answered, pushing his glasses up on his nose, "Ron got keeper, and I got one of the old chasers back from the old team. The rest should do well if we train." He kept throwing faintly disapproving looks Hermione's way but she just ignored them, changing the subject instead as they left the entrance hall into the bright sunshine.

"Do you think he is still mad at us for not taking his class?"

Ron shrugged, seemingly unaware of anything wrong between his two best friends. "I dunno. I mean, did he rally think that we would continue? I mean when did we ever show any enthusiasm for the class?"

Hermione sighed and Ed glanced over at her. Her face was a little worried and had a tinge of guilt in it, "I know. But when you think of it we were the only ones who ever put in any effort."

Harry finally joined the conversation with sigh, "We did that because we liked Hagrid, not the stupid subject."

Ed wasn't quiet sure what the problem was, if his information was correct, Hagrid was the care of magical creatures teacher. It looked as though these three were not taking that class this year.

By this time they had reached the edge of a small garden that bordered the side of a sturdy looking stone hut. Before Ed could ask anything, a booming bark sounded out and a huge dog bounded around the house.

"Look ou' there, he'll have yer fingers…" the dog was followed by the even bigger frame of the games keeper.

Ed was still rather intimidated by this man but he really couldn't place why.

Hagrid stopped when he saw them, then snorted rather sourly, "Oh, it'd jist ye, lot." With a huff he turned and entered the house, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Hermione gazed at the closed door, a look of sorrow on her face, "Oh dear."

Ed looked at all three faces, "What's the problem?" he asked curiously. They all seemed rather upset at the huge man's behaviour.

Harry's face was set, walking up to the door, he rapped sharply on it, "Hagrid, let us in." he called. There wasn't an answer so he knocked louder. When this didn't gain any results, his face twisted with annoyance and he pulled out his wand, "Hagrid, if you don't open this door, I'm going to blow it in." he called.

Hermione looked as though she was going to protest but the door flew open before she could, Hagrid staring out at Harry in shock, "I'm a teacher, Potter, a teacher. You don't go around threatening to blow in a teachers door."

Harry crossed his arms, "Then why don't you give me detention then, sir?" he asked rather sourly.

Hagrid blinked, "Sins when you call me sir?"

Ed saw the faint twinkle in Harry's eyes, but he couldn't tell if it was satisfaction of annoyance, "Since when do you call em Potter?" he threw back.

Hagrid grumbled then stepped back to let them in, Ed turned to Hermione, "I'll wait out here until you sort this all out." He told her quietly and she nodded in understanding before following the other two into the hut.

Truth be told, he wanted a chance to think. He needed to figure out what he was going to tell them about what he was doing in Hogwarts in the first place.

Deciding to walk around a bit, he wandered though the garden that backed Hagrids hut but as soon as he turned the corner he froze, all thoughts driven from his head.

There, standing in the middle of the vegetable patch was a really odd looking creature. Chimera, was his first thought, but the information he had read in some of his new books told him otherwise. This was a real, honest to god Hippogriff.

Walking carefully up to the creature, Ed eyed it over curiously, it was like someone had attached a huge eagle onto the back of a horse. The making of Chimera was one of the most deprived forms of alchemy and one thing that most of the creations had in common was a sense on agony about them. The pain of their forced joining with dissimilar parts, but this creature had none of that.

Deep in thought, he stepped up to the creature, forgetting what he had read about the temper of the proud creatures.

As soon as he got in range, it struck out at him and he raised his right arm in defence, the huge beak clamping firmly around the metal limb.

"What is it and these creatures trying to bite me." He muttered in annoyance, remembering that just about every chimera he had come across had clamped onto him as well.

There came cry of alarm from behind him, but he ignored it, glaring up into the indignant eye of the _'bird?'_ that had hold of his arm.

"Listen, Featherbrain." He nearly growled, "If you do not let go _now_. I will break your ugly beak." The eyes widened in surprise, and after a moment the iron grip loosened and let go, the creature stepping back, a look of grudging respect in its eyes. Ed watched curiously as it bent its front legs in a bow.

"My goodness, what did ye do? Tha's the firs time I have ever seen a Hippogriff bow to anyone."

Turning, Ed caught sight of Harry, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid all standing at the edge of the garden and all with varying expressions of shock or confusion.

Hermione rushed forward, her face white in concern and before Ed could stop her, she had grasped his arm and pulled back the ripped sleeve.

Ed sighed as he watched her expression turn to shock as she found, not lacerated flesh, as she had feared, but shiny metal that only showed a few scratches from its encounter with a huge beak.

"Ah, Ed?" she asked carefully. The others had now joined her and they too stared in shock.

"Bloody hell." Ron whispered.

Ed sighed. "I guess that answers the question of whether I tell you or not." He said redundantly, "Come on, lets go inside, if Hagrid doesn't mind. I have some things I should talk to you about."

They were all seated around Hagrids table, huge cups of tea set before them. Ed went over in his head how to explain things to them but was coming up with a blank with how to start.

As if he sensed the trouble Ed was having, Harry prompted him, "So, what is with the arm?"

Sighing, Ed pushed the sleeve of his robe and his sweater up to expose the metal limb, "It's not the only one I have." He said rather offhandedly, he reached down and pulled off his boot and pulled up the leg of his trousers.

"I lost both in an accident, I suppose you could say." He said softly. Looking at the grave faces around him he thought over all they had gone through and came to the decision that he would tell them everything.

Drawing in a breath to brace himself he frowned lightly, "I don't know how much you know of alchemy." He began softly, "But there are a couple laws governing what we do. The creation of chimera is one of the most depraved forms."

Hermione blinked and her eyes flashed in understanding, "That's why you have a problem with using animals in Transfiguration."

Ed smiled slightly at her interruption and gave a slight nod, "As much as it is frowned upon, there is something much worse." He clenched his eyes in pain as memory's flashed through his head, "Human Transmutation." He said flatly, "The attempt to bring the dead back to life." He looked up at Hermione's gasp and found her looking between him and Harry. The other boy had told him of how Voldemort had used magic to bring his body back but he had realised one important fact, "It is not the same as what Lord Moron did, you see all he did was create himself a new body to house his soul. The truly dead on the other hand, cannot be brought back. If something is to be gained, something of equal valued must be offered in exchange. I ask you, what is equal in value to a human soul?"

He looked around at he troubled faces of his new friends and smiled rather sadly, "My brother and I didn't take that into account. We had studied everything in regards to human transmutation that we could find. I could tell you the chemical makeup of an average human adult, down to the last mineral, but I cannot tell you what to offer for a soul."

He drew in a breath and clenched his metal hand, his voice becoming soft with pain, "This is what happens to those who tread where they should not." He almost whispered, "We tried the forbidden, my brother and I, all for the hope of seeing our mom one last time."

He couldn't look at them anymore as he continued, "The array was perfect, everything in place. We had thought it was working, then everything went wrong. I lost my leg to the void, my brother his entire body." He clenched his hand tight, "Then I offered up my arm in payment to seal my brother's soul to a suit of armour. It is our punishment you see."

He shuddered in pain, remembering his brother disappearing before his eyes. Gaining control he raised his eyes and met four very sombre faces.

"After my brother came to, he carried me to a friends place and they fitted me out with these." He raised his hand to the light.

Clamping a lid on the memories, he turned to them seriously, "Professor Dumbledore told me that I should give you some information of why I am actually here. He told me it was up to my own discretion of how much I tell you."

Puzzlement flittered over the other faces, "I thought you were an exchange student?" Hermione asked, her pace a little pale from what she had heard already.

Ed shook his head, "That was the cover story Dumbledore put forward to my superiors. He figured it would be easier if I could pose as a student, that I would attract less attention."

If anything the puzzlement grew and Ed sighed, "The thing is, I am part of the military. A State Alchemist as we are called. My name and rank is Major Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist."

Ron chuckled rather nervously as the others stared at him incredulously, "Nice one Ed, the military." His laughter died when Ed just looked at him, "You are kidding right?" he asked, almost desperately.

Ed sighed, "I'm afraid not. I am a soldier, I have been since I was twelve. I am trying to search out a way to turn myself and my brother back to what we once were. But that is not why I am here. Dumbledore contacted our government for assistance in taking down a notorious criminal. All we were told before we got here was that we were too meet with Dumbledore and that I would be placed undercover in his magic school." His face twisted in amusement and Harry and Hermione let out slow breaths. Hagrid just shook his head.

"So you're here to take out Voldemort?" Harry asked, ignoring the flinch that both Ron and Hagrid gave at the sound of that name.

Ed shook his head, "Not directly. I'm here, primarily, to keep an eye on you and to be in place should anything happen." He expected Harry to be annoyed to find out he had been assigned a bodyguard, but instead he seemed intrigued.

"So you are fully qualified?" he asked and Ed pulled out his pocket watch, glancing at it before placing it carefully on the table.

"That's right. We don't have schools like this one for alchemy. We have to find our own tutors. I took the entrance exam for the State alchemists and passed, the youngest ever to do so." There was no bragging in his voice, he didn't take pride in much that he did in relation to his military duties.

He almost laughed at the mixture of shock, awe and disbelief on their faces, "So there you have it, that is why I am here. I'm also to study magic as well, to figure out some of how it works. My superiors think that the information may be of use later on."

Hermione coughed lightly, "Especially if Voldemort starts making trouble in your country as well."

Ed turned to look at her sharply. He hadn't thought of that. At the mere thought of something else to cope with back home, Ed felt light headed, "Oh, great. That would be all we needed." He muttered.

For the rest of the afternoon, the three wizards bombarded Ed with questions about his duties within the military and he gladly answered the majority of them, relieved of not having to hide what he was anymore. He didn't say anything about Mustangs presence within the ministry however, figuring it wasn't his place to blow the Colonel's cover. Thinking on the older alchemist, Ed grimaced. He had a distinct feeling he was going to get lectured about revealing so much information as soon as Mustang found out.

Sighing, he pulled on pyjamas and stepped up to the window, looking out over the dark school grounds. They'd had dinner over two hours ago, and all of them had retired to the common room. He had just left the others to their studying, needing time to reflect on everything that had happened.

Just as he turned away from the window, there came a tapping at the glass. Looking back, he found his own owl, Hweel, sitting on the sill.

"Hello, lovely one." He muttered, slipping open the window and letting the bird in.

Fluttering over to his bed, she settled on the covers then extended her leg, allowing him access to the letter tied there.

"Thank you." He whispered to her, scratching at her head. With a soft hoot, she nibbled his fingers then launched herself back out the window again.

Once he closed the window, Ed turned back to sit on the edge of his bed to study the letter she had delivered.

The crest on the outside belonged to one Col. Roy Mustang. With a sigh, he slit the letter open and read through it, a pleased grin spreading across his face.

'_Heh, he actually sent for her. Things are going to get more interesting down at the ministry from here on out.'_

……………….

AN/ Guess who is on the way? Hope it was worth the wait. Oh, the next one may be a few days away, I'm afraid. I'm moving house. But I'll try my best.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who reviewed. Over 100, Yay. Ok, see you soon.


	14. Ch 14: Enter Hawkeye

AN/ Hello again. Thank you for your patience over the wait. Here's the next one, a little Mustang, Hawkeye and Ed fun before things get too serious. I'll put in a few notes at the bottom of the chapter as well, so without further ado, here we go.

Disclaimer: No, Harry Potter isn't mine, neither is full metal alchemist, or any of the other brilliant pieces of work lining my bookshelves. (_sigh_)

AN/ Oh, there is a line in this chapter that I have to thank Lady Banshee 999, in a review for chapter 7. I couldn't get it out of my head and it fit in here so well. Heh heh.

**Ch 14: Enter Hawkeye**

Early the next morning, Ed managed to catch hold of the Headmaster just as he was leaving and informed him of what was going on. The old wizard was happy to transport him to the train station to collect the lieutenant and then deliver the two of them to the ministry as he had business with the minister that day.

Waiting on the platform beside Dumbledore, Ed was suddenly conscious of the odd picture the two of them made. Neither of them had changed into more 'normal' clothes and they were attracting quiet a lot of attention from the civilians on the platform. Trying to ignore the questioning looks thrown their way, he turned to his companion and cleared his throat.

"Sir, I was wondering if I could ask you something." It wasn't often that he was so respectful of his elders, but the old wizard had an odd air about him that just seemed to create automatic deference from others.

At Dumbledore's silently raised eyebrow, Ed collected his thoughts, "There have been accusations and rumours flying around amongst the student body," he began carefully, "As far as I can tell, there is something very serious brewing but I have a rather limited knowledge of what is going on. I would like to get hold of some of the other members of 'the order' as Harry called them. The more information I can get hold of the better, and it would also help the Colonel on his end if he knew something of what you are doing."

Dumbledore nodded gravely, before turning his attention on the approaching train.

"I can arrange for you to meet with some of our other operatives, I'll organise for them to contact you. All I ask is that you keep your meetings discrete. You are right in thinking that there is something going on. We have been able to sense it for months now, but the enemy is covering his tracks well." An uncharacteristic frown shadowed his features for a moment before clearing again, "Keep a report on anything you hear spoken of amongst the students that you believe may be of importance." He smiled brightly and the twinkle was back in his blue eyes, "If there is one thing I know about my students is that if there is an interesting piece of news, they will tend to sniff it out. Oh, here we go."

As he finished speaking a train pulled into the platform in front of where they were standing.

It didn't take them long to spot Hawkeye once the passengers started to disembark. Her precise royal blue uniform and immaculate blond hair stood out a mile. Catching sight of them, she did a rather comical double take and Ed sighed, knowing he was going to get it big time for his school uniform.

Threading her way through the crowd, she stopped in front of him and greeted him with a rather formal, "Sir." there was, however, a trace of amusement in her eyes as she studied his attire carefully.

Before she could say anything, however, Dumbledore stepped forward and bowed his head slightly, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I am afraid that we are on a rather tight schedule at the moment, if the two of you would just come with me, we shall be on our way."

They had decided that subjecting Hawkeye to apparating would be a little too much for the woman so soon after arriving, so Dumbledore had arranged for one of the ministry's cars to pick them up at the station and to transport them to the ministry's main headquarters.

It took about fifteen minutes to reach their destination and the whole time, Hawkeye continued to throw suspicious looks Dumbledore's way. Not that Ed could blame her. They'd had enough trouble lately with odd strangers and the Hogwarts Headmaster definitely came under the heading of strange.

"Don't be too concerned Lieutenant, there are a lot of odd things going on around here, but the Colonel will be able to give you some idea of what to expect." He muttered aside to her, and she turned her serious eyes on him to give him a slight nod of acknowledgement.

She would hold her judgement for now, he guessed.

The street they were taken to was not one he would have expected a government building to be housed in, and Ed's confusion grew as they pulled up in front of an old red telephone box. He turned quizzical eyes on Dumbledore then exchanged a rather resigned shrug with Hawkeye. He had rather gotten used to the odd things that happened around these people by now.

Dumbledore ushered them into the box, it was rather a tight squeeze with the three of them, then picked up the receiver and dialled.

A rather cool female voice sounded out from thin air, "Welcome to the ministry of magic. Please state your name and business."

Dumbledore looked a little bored with the whole business as far as Ed could tell, and he sighed. _'Great, here we go with official nonsense again.'_

"Albus Dumbledore here to see Rufus Scrimgeour as well as Major Elric and Lieutenant Hawkeye to see Colonel Mustang."

"Thank you." The woman answered dispassionately, "Visitors please take the badge and pin it to the front of your robes."

There was a rattle and three silver badges slid out of the coin return containing their names and stating the appointments that each of them had.

Dumbledore handed one to each of them and the woman's voice spoke again, "All visitors are to submit to a search and are to register their wands at the security desk located at the end of the Atrium."

The floor of the phone box shuddered slightly and Ed watched nervously as the pavement seemed to rise up past the windows until darkness closed over their heads.

After about a minute golden light filtered up from below them and he had to blink to adjust his eyes as they came to a stop, "The ministry wishes you a pleasant day." The woman's voice said as they stepped off the lift.

They were standing at one end of a very long and splendid hallway. The floor was of heavily polished, dark wood and the peacock blue ceiling was inlaid with gleaming golden symbols that kept moving and changing, causing Ed to look away in unease after a while with a slight shudder.

The hall wasn't lined with doors as one would expect but with fireplaces and every few seconds witches and wizards would appear out of them, looking frazzled and hurried.

Ed glanced at the newly arrived woman beside him, trying to judge her reaction. As he had expected, she took in everything around her without even blinking, her serious, watchful expression never wavering.

In the centre of the hall was the large golden fountain made up of huge statues of a tall wizard, a witch, a centaur, a goblin and some other odd looking creature that Ed assumed was a house elf, that Harry had described to him. All in all he was rather surprised at the spotless splendour of the place. From what Harry had told him, this place had been fairly heavily damaged a few months before, not that anyone would be able to tell now.

Dumbledore led them to the end of the hall where a huge set of golden gates stood with two very alert looking guards, looking menacingly out at anything that stepped up to them.

The guard on the right nodded gravely at them as they approached, "Professor Dumbledore sir." he saluted respectfully, the other guard nodded sharply, keeping his eyes on the rest of the room.

"My apologies sir, but we must ask you and your guests to step aside for a moment as we conduct a search."

Dumbledore sighed lightly then turned to them, "I'm afraid we'll have to follow security procedures, things are a little tense at the moment."

Ed felt like sighing as well but he could see acceptance on Hawkeye's face, not that that surprised him, she was military after all. _'Well, so am I.'_ he thought wearily.

Stepping off to one side, the guard pulled out a long thin rod and ran it over each of them. As he scanned Hawkeye it twittered at him and he frowned slightly, "I'm sorry ma'am, but could you please remove whatever it is you have beneath your jacket."

Hawkeye's eyes narrowed and Ed had to hold himself back from stepping away from her, instead he reached out to lay a steadying hand on her arm. Catching her eye, he shook his head sharply and she frowned slightly before drawing out her pistol and holding it out to the guard.

The man studied it curiously for a moment and Ed had the feeling he had only the slightest idea of what it actually was.

After noting down a few points in the note book he pulled from his pocket he lost interest in the weapon and turned the Dumbledore asking for his wand.

As the guard performed some odd measurements Hawkeye put her weapon away, "I thought he was going to confiscate it." she muttered to Ed and he shrugged, as confused she was.

"To tell you the truth, so did I." he whispered back, "But I don't think they consider a gun much of a threat. But then again, some of the stuff I have read these wizards are capable of, your pistol is a little thing in comparison."

The guard turned to the two of them and held out his hand, "Wands please."

Both officers stared blankly at him and Dumbledore stepped in hastily, "These two are visiting consultants, neither of them carry a wand."

The guard eyed them curiously as he let them through, but there wasn't any other trouble. That was until they entered another hall that seemed to be lined with offices. As soon as they walked through the door, they walked into chaos.

There was around a half a dozen wizards crouched behind desks, wands drawn and there was paper everywhere. There were also scorch marks. And a good deal of smoke. Ed groaned.

In the middle of the room stood a rather frazzled looking wizard, a look of fear of his face as he cowered in front of a blue garbed figure who held out a hand over the man's head, his gloved fingers set to snap.

Ed bit his lip, not sure if he really wanted to face the Colonel in this mood, Hawkeye on the other hand didn't hesitate. There was sharp crack and the floor beside the Colonel's foot grew a scorched hole where her bullet had hit and the man froze.

If the situation hadn't been so tense, Ed would have laughed himself silly at the shiver of horrified recognition that made its way up Mustangs spine and his raised hand went ridged.

"Sir, drop the hand and step away from the bureaucrat." Ed had to snicker at her calm order. Mustang was their superior but there wasn't a one of them that would go against her when she had her gun pointed at their head. The Colonel was no exception. He hesitated a moment then dropped his hand and swivelled to face them. The look of resigned annoyance on his face transformed to an expression of rather evil glee as he caught sight of Ed and the younger alchemist groaned loudly, he knew what was coming.

Hawkeye's gun mysteriously disappeared and she came to attention beside him, giving a sharp salute, "Sir, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye reporting for duty, as requested."  
Ed came to attention beside her but didn't salute, after all he figured, what was the point? He wasn't in uniform and he still didn't like the look in the man's eyes.

"I'll leave you two to it then." Dumbledore told him softly, slipping back out through the door they had just come through.

Glancing around at the chaos of the room around them, Mustangs expression turned a little uncomfortable, "If you two would follow me." He told them abruptly.

Ed saw looks of relief on the faces of the wizards who crawled out from under their desks and one or two of them threw the Colonel rather fearful looks as they scuttled back to their jobs.

The man he had been about to torch simply collapsed to his knees in the centre of the room and shuddered.

The room that he led them to was about the quarter of the size of his office back home but Ed saw one thing that had him smirking, one thing that confirmed without a doubt that this was Mustang's office. There, on his desk was a neat stack of paperwork and scattered over the rest of the surface were more sheets of paper is various stages of origami construction.

Ed shot a look at Hawkeye and had to bite back hard on a laugh at the expression that flitted across her face. Her face went blank and her eyebrow twitched at the sight but it seemed as though Mustang saw the storm brewing as well because he broke in before she could say anything. And what he broke in with guaranteed that everyone's attention was turned away from his rather sloppy office habits.

"So Fullmetal, what did they threaten you with to get you dressed in that getup? Or is it just the way they dress up midgets around here?"

Ed glared at him, his face twitching. Flexing his metal hand he growled, "You're not really in the position to jab at me sir. Or if you have forgotten, you had the personnel out there cowering under their desks._ And don't call me a midget._" That last was grated out between clenched teeth.

Mustang smirked and Ed held back from hitting the man, knowing that this was just how the Colonel was letting off steam in a less destructive manner then torching the building. But really, did he have to take it out on him?

"Well, Fullmetal, do you have a report for me, or have you messed up again and are here to ask me to send you home?"

Ed growled at him, letting off a little steam of his own, "Tell me sir. What would you consider messing up in this situation? I seem to recall reading in a _magazine_ about a certain individual working within the ministry who summons fire without a wand. The same person who seems to have developed the habit of torching desks."

Mustangs face actually twitched for a moment and Ed gave back the full force of his own smirk, _'Come on old man, you can do better then this.'_ Ed thought, he found himself almost laughing, he didn't realise how tense he had been getting lately and the familiar act of arguing with the Colonel had him feeling much better.

It seemed to have the same effect on Mustang as well for a grin spread across his face and he sat back in his chair, waving them into seats of their own.

"So tell me Ed, truthfully, anything to report."

Ed blinked in surprise at him calling him by his first name but chose not to mention it. Taking a seat of his own he lent on his knees and scratched at his head, "Not much in particular at the moment, just that I have managed to make friends with the students that I was told to keep an eye on. Not only that but Dumbledore has given them permission to pass on information to me of everything that they have been doing and he is also going to arrange a meeting for me with members of what they are calling The Order of the Phoenix."

Mustang sat forward with an intense look on his face and Ed nodded at the question in his eyes.

"Yes sir, you were right. The undercover group is run by Dumbledore and he has told me that I can have access to the personnel that he has working with."

Mustang nodded with satisfaction, "Very good, Fullmetal. Well done, keep up contact with the student group, they will make a good information base and meet with those members. I want information of what is going on."

This time Ed did salute, this was a military operation, as much as he didn't like it, and as long as the man wasn't pissing him off, then he was willing to play the obedient subordinate. To a certain extent.

Turning to Hawkeye, who had been very silent since she arrived, Ed shifted nervously at the smirk that spread across his face. This did not bode too well, one way or the other.

"Tell me, Lieutenant. Are you aware of the dress code here?"

Knowing full well what he was referring to, the woman casually reached into her jacket and withdrew her trusty 'accessory'. Fingering the polished metal of the gun she eyed her commander.

"Sir, as far as I have observed the dress code here either consists of a mishmash of totally mismatched, out of fashion casual wear or ridiculous looking robes and pointed hats. If you are suggesting that I am required to wear a mini skirt while I am here, I would respectfully suggest that you wear one first."

Mustang suddenly seemed reluctant to press the issue and actually looked rather relieved when there came a knock at his door.

Ed answered it to find a twitchy little wizard who informed him that the lady's luggage had been brought over from the train station.

Thanking the man, Ed stepped back to allow the luggage to march its way into the office, seemingly all by itself. Completely ignoring this new display of magic, he closed the door again and took his seat once more.

Hawkeye on the other hand went through the stack of boxes, that Mustang eyed wearily Ed noted, and came up with a narrow leather case, one he thought he recognised.

"Sir, I was asked by Miss Winry to give this to you. She told me that if you managed to damage yourself after leaving this behind I was to hit you in the head with it."

She handed the case over to him and he realised with a wince that it was the repair kit Winry had given him before he left. He had clean forgotten to take it with him. Not that he'd had much choice in the matter, as he recalled.

Reaching into another bag she pulled out a rather thick envelope, "And I was asked by your brother to give you this." She handed over the letter and Ed felt his heart jump. He had missed Al's presence over the past month, more then he had thought he would and he actually couldn't wait to get back to his dorm room at the school so he could read what his brother wrote.

Seeming to sense his agitation, Mustang actually gave him a small smile, "Just one more thing before you are dismissed Fullmetal. Have you anything to report on the other part of your mission?"

Ed clutched the letter in his hand, after all the other half of his mission was the reason he was here in the first place and it had everything to do with the only blood family he had left. "Nothing specific sir." he answered gravely, "But I have free access to any material in the library and in the archives. I have only just begun searching but there has to be something here. I just know it."

Mustang leant his elbows on his knees and laced his hands, resting his nose on his knuckles, "Very good Ed. Keep me informed on anything you learn." For once his voice was free of scorn and the look on his face was serious, the haunted look that sometimes flashed in his eyes shimmering for a moment.

Ed nodded gravely and rose to his feet, "If I may be dismissed sir? I have to get back. I had two free periods this morning but I have to return for my afternoon classes."

Mustang dropped his hands and his characteristic smirk was back in place, but Ed let it pass, seeing behind the expression this time to the concern beneath, "You are dismissed Fullmetal. Study hard."

Once again ignoring the mocking tone, Ed turned to leave but burst out laughing as he caught sight of what was in one of those big boxes that Hawkeye had brought with her. Just as he had expected, she had boxed up all of the Colonels paperwork and brought it with her.

Feeling much better then he had in weeks, Ed made his way back to the entrance hall.

He was just wondering how he was supposed to make his way back to school when a dreary voice called out behind him, "Wotcha, Edward."

Turning around he found the most curious looking witch coming towards him. She wasn't overly tall, he noted, and she seemed rather down in the dumps. Not that he couldn't say that about many of the people he had met lately, but she actually seemed to be wilting slightly.

"Do I know you?" he asked cautiously and the woman gave him a slight smile.

"Not at all kiddo. Dumbledore sent me to meet you. Said you'd need a lift back to the school and seeing as I am the order rep that is on guard duty at the moment, I got the job. The names Tonks."

She held out her hand and Ed took it, ignoring the quizzical look on her face at the feel of the hard metal beneath his glove.

"So, how are we getting back then?" he asked her, not really knowing what to make of her. He had heard of her of course but from Harry's descriptions it looked as though something was hitting her hard.

Tonks waved a hand at his question, "I'll apparate us there of course. Have ta' drop us outside the gate I'm afraid. Security won't let us appear within the grounds, but I'm sure you can make your own way from there."

Without further discussion she took hold of Ed's arm and everything vanished with a faint _pop_ to be replaced by the huge gates of Hogwarts.

"Dumbledore told me we were supposed to organise some time to talk to you and that we were to use you as a contact within the school." Tonks told him gravely as she let go of his arm, "I'll send a message to you once I have organised a few things. In the mean time," she glanced up and her face twisted a little sourly, "Here is someone to let you in."

Ed followed her gaze and actually rolled his eyes at Snapes rather sinister form sweeping down the path towards them. The man couldn't seem to do anything without looking halfway creepy, it seemed to be some sort of instinct to mess with students minds as far as Ed could tell.

Tonks gave him a slight nod and left him before the Professor reached them and Ed prepared for the verbal match that was likely to emerge.

He had made no secret that he didn't like the man but unlike with Harry, whom Ed knew hated this particular teacher even more then he did, Snape seemed not to know how to react to him. He sneered and insulted him as he did with any other student but there was always an underlying current of unease whenever they had a confrontation. One the man didn't seem to enjoy very much.

"Well, well. If it isn't the clever exchange student." Snape sneered as he opened the gates with a flick of his wand, "What where you doing outside school grounds, Elric. Even you should know that it is forbidden for students to leave unescorted."

Ed merely sighed in annoyance, "Give it a rest Professor Spaz. I thought you would have figured out by now that the school rules don't exactly apply to me. If you have a problem with that I suggest you take it up with Dumbledore. Otherwise, keep out of my face."

Leaving the nearly exploding professor standing at the gate, Ed marched his way up to the castle. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with Snape at present, so he simply ignored the man, although he nearly laughed at the swearing that broke out behind him. He had actually made the man loose his slimy composure.

Biting back a grin, Ed hummed to himself as he walked into the entrance hall and turned up the stairs that would lead him to the common room. He had about an hour left until his next class and he was determined to read his brothers letter before then.

He managed to reach the dorms without meeting anyone, so it was with great relief that he sat on the edge of his bed and slit open the letter, laying his repair kit carefully on the covers beside him.

_Dear Brother._

_I'm hoping that the Lieutenant will be able to deliver this to you, she said she would try. How is everything going there, have you found any important information yet? More importantly, has anyone turned you into a toad?_

Ed shook his head, a faint smile playing on his lips, _'Ha ha, Al very funny.'_

_Just kidding. I managed to gain access to some of the books form the main library, Chesqua lent them to me, so I have been doing some study of my own._

_Also, there hasn't been any sign of the other homunculi lately, so there is no reason for you to worry._

_Oh, by the way, Winry asked if there was anything you would like for her to send you. She said that the repair kit should be enough but if you manage to ruin all her careful work she would make sure you had a permanent, wrench shaped, dent in your forehead once she got hold of you._

Ed sighed in amusement, nice one, she wasn't even there and she had managed to threaten him twice in little over an hour. Now that took talent.

_Anyway, I just thought I'd send you a short letter to make sure you were alright and to tell you not to get into too much trouble without me there to help you out, okay?_

_Bring yourself back in one piece._

_Your little brother,_

_Alphonse Elric_

Ed sighed as he carefully folded the letter and slipped it onto his night stand. He really wished Al could have come with him on this one. They could have laughed together at some of the stupid things Ed had come across since he had been here. He really would have enjoyed that little incident at the ministry as well. With that in mind, He took out a sheet of parchment and a quill and set about writing a return letter. If he couldn't laugh with Al by his side, at least he could still let his brother know everything, maybe they could laugh about it later, once he went home.

………………………

_(AN/ Yay for torturing Snape, Heh heh heh.)_

AN/ Thought I'd put in a few notes in response to a couple reviews, by the way thank you again to everyone, glad to know that you are enjoying this as much as I am.

First off I would like to say a very big thank you to TheBetanWerecat, your review really made my day. I put a lot of effort into keeping as much of the characters intact as possible. Otherwise, what is the point of using them in the first place? As to my writing, I have written quiet a few of my own works but as I haven't much of an idea of what to do with them in regards to publishing etc, I thought I would give this a go. At least I can get feed back on my work this way.  
I hope I continue to entertain, at least. Thank you again for your review, it was much appreciated.

A few random remarks: Don't worry, I'm not planning on having Ed forget about everyone back home. On the contrary, it is going to be on his mind more and more as things progress.

Oh and I must apologise, I didn't realise I had the anonymous review thingy disabled. As I said this is my first fic, so I'm still learning all the little do-hickies on the page.

To everyone else, big big thank you as well. The feed back I get is very inspiring.

There are a few names that have been with me from the start and I'm glad you're sticking through this.

Ok, enough from me. The next chapter shouldn't be too long, it is mostly done already.

See ya.


	15. Ch 15: Alchemic Theory

AN/ Here we go, another update. Sorry it is taking a few days each for these but things are getting a little more complicated now. I need to start writing parallel situations for Ed that still fit in with the HBP. Hopefully it all works.

Anyway, on to chapter 15.

Disclaimer: not mine, never was.

**Ch 15: Alchemic Theory**

About midway through October a notice was posted that a trip to the local village, Hogsmead, had been scheduled. Ed wasn't entirely too sure why but the announcement seemed to cause a great deal of excitement.

The morning of the trip, their entire dorm was woken, rather abruptly, by an indignant yell and a very unusual sight.

Ed scrabbled out of the curtains around his bed, prepared to fight but froze at what he saw. There was Ron, hanging in the air, above his bed, as if some great hand had him by the ankle.

The others in the room were laughing hysterically and Harry was apologising.

"Sorry, Ron. Hang on, I'll get you down."

Ed watched in fascination as Harry flicked his wand and Ron was dropped in a heap on his mattress. It looked as though Harry was starting to get a handle on the non verbal spells.

"Sorry." Harry repeated weakly and the others continued to roar with laughter.

Ron's muffled voice came somewhere from the vicinity of his pillows, "Tomorrow, I would rather you set the alarm clock."

By the time they were walking down to breakfast, Ron and Harry were laughing gaily at Harry's morning experiment. Ed didn't pay much attention to them as they got into an argument with Hermione over Harry's potions book, yet again. He was too distracted by the ache where his metal limbs met flesh. The weather outside had turned stormy and cold and the ceiling in the great hall revealed cold flurries of ice that were guaranteed to turn into slush.

"Look, mails here." Ron interrupted their own argument to point up at the owls streaming in through the high windows.

Ed was rather surprised to see his own Hweel winging down to him.

He scratched at her head and took her message and she launched herself off the table again after a brief nibble at his fingers.

"So, who's it from?" Harry asked him curiously.

Flipping the letter over, Ed snorted, "My superior officer. Wonder what Colonel Irritating wants now?" ignoring the surprised chuckles from his friends at his description of Mustang, Ed slit open the letter and frowned slightly at the contents;

_Fullmetal,_

_As I understand it they are conducting trips to the local village and as such all students need a permission form to attend. I have provided one for you if you wish to go, though seeing the weather this morning I would hardly blame you if you don't._

_If you do, be careful not to fall into any snow drifts or they wont find you until spring._

_Col. Roy Mustang_

Ed growled softly, did he have to put in that last bit? He knew for a fact that what little snow was falling at the moment wouldn't gather enough for it to be dignified with the term drift.

Attached to the brief letter was the promised permission form and Ed felt a surge of amusement. He was actually causing the Colonel more paperwork, that was probably where the snide remark came from, and now that he had sent for Hawkeye, there was no way he was going to be able to weasel his way out of doing it.

Glancing over at the piece of parchment, Ron slapped him on the shoulder and he winced slightly, "Brilliant, you can come down with us."

Rubbing at his shoulder joint, Ed glanced up at the ceiling and frowned slightly, "I don't think so. I try to avoid walking out in weather this cold, besides I want to get a good start on some research I have been putting off."

Hermione noticed him gripping at his right shoulder in pain and her expression turned thoughtful, "There's been something I have been meaning to ask you Ed." She said hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure how welcome the topic would be.

Ed merely raised his eyebrow. After all, he had told them most of his secrets so there wasn't much that she could ask now that would be uncomfortable.

Clearing her throat, the girl frowned slightly in thought, "I'm not sure how much of the school security spells you are familiar with, but considering what your job is here I'd say you at least know something about them. What I'm trying to ask is how is it your arm and leg work within the school grounds?"

Ed chuckled, he should have seen this one coming. As a matter of fact, he had studied that spell specifically out of curiosity, if nothing else.

"To tell you the truth, if they were nothing more then metal prosthetics, there wouldn't have been an issue, but Dumbledore had to revise the spell slightly when I arrived."

Hermione nodded, her expression still puzzled, "Why wouldn't it matter if your limbs where metal prosthetics? As far as I was able to find out, that spell prevented mechanical devises from working within the grounds?"

At this point Ron broke in, in confusion, "Wait a minute, if mechanical devises don't work, why do all the clocks still run?"

Ed tried not to laugh and Hermione merely smiled slightly in amusement. "To answer your question first, Ron, the clocks work because clockwork can't exactly be called mechanics, there is a difference. Clockwork uses cogs and wound springs working against each other to keep each of the parts moving. But as to Hermione's question, you are not entirely correct. The spell on the school doesn't stop mechanic devises from working, normal mechanical things will still work, such as a bicycle, or even a gun. Things that work through simply, physical law. But if you bring in something that requires elemental law to function, in other words, electricity, that is where your problem lies."

Hermione looked fascinated at his explanation, Harry thoughtful, Ron just looked confused.

"So the electrical component is all that wouldn't work?" Harry asked him curiously.

Ed Chuckled, "Yeah, you see the way this stuff works is my nerves are grafted directly to the electrodes in my shoulder and the top of the leg. The spell doesn't interrupt natural electrical current otherwise everyone would have been frizzed by their own nerves by now. What it did do was short circuit everything where my nerve impulses are converted into the electrical impulses that allow me to use the automail as if they were real limbs. Dumbledore modified the spell so it would bypass the unique signature given off by the automail, otherwise I would still be in a heap on his office floor."

"Is it painful?" Ron asked curiously, he too noticing Ed rubbing at his shoulder.

Flushing slightly Ed drooped his hand, he hadn't realised he had been doing it. "Not really." He answered in regards to Ron's question, "The cold just makes it a little uncomfortable. I am usually used to a much warmer climate." Thinking on the desserts he usually travelled he had to keep himself from snorting, that was an understatement.

Reaching out he grabbed a piece of toast off the plate that sat between them on the table.

"So what will you do here, if you don't wish to came with us?" Harry asked him, his expression curious.

Ed shook his head, "I think I'll get some research done. I haven't had much of a chance to really go through some of the books I found the other night, this will be a good opportunity to get some work done."

Ron rolled his eyes and gulped down a glass of juice, "You and Hermione make a good set. Here we are with the chance to get out of the castle to explore one of the more interesting villages around and you want to spend that time in the library."

Ed ignored his comment, well used to his sort of attitude. Instead he decided to find out some of what had the three of them arguing so often, "What is it about that old Potions book that has the three of you so flustered anyway?"

Hermione cast an annoyed look at the other two boys and they scowled back at her, "Nothing really." Harry answered for them and Hermione snorted, "The previous owner left some real useful tips in the margins is all and Hermione thinks we shouldn't trust any of it and should turn the book over to a teacher, where I don't see any harm in it."

Ed rubbed at the back of his head thoughtfully, "I don't know too much on magic other then what a have read," he began, a little cautiously, not sure if they would value his advise, "But I would suggest you be careful. Some knowledge is better left unknown."

Harry continued to look at him thoughtfully for a moment then he nodded once in understanding and Ed felt an odd surge of relief. He wasn't one to back away from something just because it might be dangerous, but he knew form some of the things he had read that magic should be treated with caution.

The rest of breakfast was spent by the other three planning on where they wanted to visit once they reached the village, while Ed ran over in his head some of the more interesting titles he had come across in his earlier scan of the shelves.

He saw the others to the entry hall then made his way up to the library.

The same librarian was there that he had met the first time and she gave him a nod as he entered, "No need to dig out the pass, Mr Elric." She told him in her soft voice. He wasn't overly surprised that she remembered his name, he merely gave her a nod in response and headed for the restricted area.

Scanning the back shelves he came across some alchemic reference books and a few old volumes on some of the darker aspects of magical theory. Taking them down, he found himself a secluded table at the back of the library that was well lit by the grey light coming in through the window as well as a branch of candles.

Settling himself, he got down to some serious reading.

Some of the material was more then a little disturbing and he took careful notes, making sure to put them in code. He had no doubt that a lot of what he had learned would be considered forbidden for his classmates to simply run across if they happened to read his notes.

The history books covered a lot of what he figured that Dark Lord freak they had been searching for had been up to. There was a lot about some rather nasty curses and spells and he made careful note of their symptoms and the steps that need to be taken to break them. He also kept an accurate record on how they were cast.

After about an hour, the librarian came looking for him, a pile of old looking notebooks in her arms, "The Headmaster requested that these be collected from the archives for you." She told him gravely, placing her burden on the table among the stack already there. She looked at him curiously for a moment, then shook her head, "I don't know what he has you researching, youngster. But some of these I wouldn't even let most of the faculty see." With that, she left him to his research.

Retrieving the top notebook, he read the handwritten title and felt his heart skip a beat. AS Dumbledore had promised, he had made available to him the research journals kept by him and Nicolas Flamel.

Eagerly opening the first journal, he settled back in his chair and set about reading the old alchemists neat writing.

By the end of the first notebook, he was frowning thoughtfully. He had known that magical based alchemy was different then what he practiced but many of the rules were basically the same. The one glaring exception being the use of magical power to negate the law of equivalent exchange.

The more he read, the more thoughtful he became. Putting aside the journal he was scanning, he took up one of the magical theory books and flipped through it as well, then one of the alchemic theory books.

His first assumption was starting to loose some of its strength. One of the biggest problems he'd had with the very thought of magic was the fact that it pretty much broke all of the natural laws he had studied and lived by his whole life.

But the more he studied the subject, the more similarities he found.

Magical based alchemy was pretty much based in both sciences and using it as a bridging guide he started to make some connections that had him both confused and very thoughtful.

The possibility's that formed in his mind had him very interested.

One discovery however had him sitting back in his chair, closing his eyes as the truth behind what he had been reading swam through his mind.

All this time he had been viewing alchemy and magic as totally different disciplines but realistically they were more two different aspects of the same science.

Where an alchemist offered up the precise elements in return for their workings, a wizard on the other hand offered up his own life force in a fashion. The more he thought on it the more if fell into place. The life force the wizards used, their magical talent, was the base energy that everything permeated. By manipulating this energy, they were able to use it in the same way that an alchemist used his materials. The vehicle for their working being their wands and the spells they spoke instead of the transmutation circles and arrays.

And just as there were some, like him, who could perform alchemy without the use of circles, there were some wizards capable of casting magic without the use of wands and spoken spells.

The discovery was mind blowing. Ed considered the whole process rather unreliable, considering all that could go wrong when using base energy as the exchange product, but if he viewed everything he had learnt so far of magic with the connection in mind, everything started to make a hell of a lot more sense.

'_Well Mustang, I think I made a break through here.'_ He thought to himself.

Taking out his notes once more, he started to scribble madly.

After reading through Flamels books, he had felt disheartened as the Philosophers stone that they had created wasn't the one he needed. It was based in magical theory and didn't have the boosting powers he needed. But after taking into account the possibility of the cross over of power, he might just have made a breakthrough that could help make a stone useful in alchemic reaction but instead of using human souls, there may be a way to use magic instead.

The Librarian passed his table on the way to some of the back shelves and an idea came to him, "Excuse me, Ma'am?" she stopped and looked back at him and he waved a hand over the pile of books on his table, "Is there any way I can put these some where so that I don't have to chase them down every time I coma in here?"

She smiled slightly and nodded back towards her desk.

"Under there you will find a basket. Place all of them in there then write your name on the card. There is a spell on it that prevents anyone else from removing any of those books other then you, me or another teacher."  
Nodding in thanks, he fetched the basket and loaded the books into it. He definitely wanted to study them further but he was hungry.

As he was making his way down to the great hall, a commotion broke out from outside. Hagrid came running through the front doors holding the limp form of a student. Ed stopped as he ran past him, on the way to the infirmary, then he rushed out the main doors, on the heals of Professor McGonagall he found.

The old professor almost skidded to a stop as she caught sight of the bundled up forms of Harry, Hermione, Ron and a girl Ed vaguely recognised rushing up to the castle as well.

"What is going on?" she demanded and Ed could see that they all looked a little pale.

"It's Katie Bell, Professor. She has been cursed." Harry told her gravely.

The professor went white, then urgently gestured for them to follow her, "Come to my office, all of you. What is that thing you are holding, Potter?"

It was then that Ed noticed the Harry had bundled something up in his scarf and was holding it as it he feared it was going to bite him.

"It's the thing she touched professor."

"Good lord." McGonagall looked alarmed and she took the scarf from him.

There was a shuffling behind them and the rather odd looking man the others had told him was Filch, the school caretaker, came rushing up to them eagerly, a security sensor, like the one they had used inn the ministry, held in his hand.

McGonagall waved him off and handed him Harry's scarf. "I want you to take this to Snape at once." She ordered the man, "Keep it wrapped in the scarf and make sure not to touch it in any way."  
As soon as the man left, She led the others up to her office and Ed managed to tag along without being noticed.

Closing the door behind her, McGonagall swept around her desk and eyed the three students still dressed in their cloaks. "Well?" she demanded, "What happened?"

Ed slipped back a little from the others to avoid her attention, luckily she seemed to be too absorbed in the current crises to bother with noticing that he shouldn't have been there.

The girl that Ed couldn't fully identify sobbed out an explanation about how Katie had gone to the bathroom with they were at a place called the Three Broomsticks and that she had returned holding a wrapped package. She said that her friend had acted a little odd and she had argued with her that it was a bad idea to deliver unknown packages for anyone. The two of them had apparently fought over the package and it had torn open.

At that point the girl fell apart and McGonagall dismissed her to the hospital wing. As soon as she left, the professor turned her attention to Harry and the others.

"What happened when Katie touched the necklace?" she asked gravely.

Harry spoke grimly for the three of them, "She rose up into the air and began to scream. Then she collapsed. Professor, I need to see Professor Dumbledore, it is urgent."

McGonagall looked surprised and Ed guessed she didn't know about the meetings Harry had been having with the old man.

"The Headmaster is away until Monday, Potter." She told him.

Harry's face flushed, "Away?"

"Yes Potter, away. But anything you have to say about this horrible business can be said to me, I'm sure."

Harry hesitated a moment then took a deep breath, "I think that Draco Malfoy gave Katie the necklace professor." He said gravely.

Ed narrowed his eyes as he saw the other two shift uncomfortably at his statement, McGonagall looked shocked.

"That is a serious accusation, Potter. Do you have any proof?"

"No, but.." Harry went on to explain about a chance meeting they'd had with the other boy before the start of term. How Malfoy had been chasing up something suspicious, something he didn't want other people aware of.

Through it all Ron and Hermione had looked distinctly uncomfortable but Ed could see that Harry felt there was something off about this whole thing. And he found himself agreeing. As little of the creep as he had seen, Ed didn't trust the Slytherin boy as far as he could throw him.

The others had started to argue with Harry over some points in his story and McGonagall cut them off, telling them that Malfoy hadn't been in Hogsmead.

After explaining she'd had him in detention all day, she told them she wanted to check on Katie and dismissed them.

Harry and the others headed back to the common room, but Ed went in the other direction. This needed looking in to.

……………….

AN/ Thank you to all the reviewers, especially Abyssinian003, thanks for taking the time to send me an email to review when you couldn't through the review link. I'm glad everyone is still enjoying.

This one was a little academic, I'm afraid, but it is important for some things later on so it had to be in there. I'm about half way through HBP now plot wise, so things get more dangerous soon.

Oh and I am planning on having Ed have some sort of difficulty with his automail so I can bring in Winry, don't worry. I too think it would be amusing to have her clock him one in front of the Harry squad.

See ya on the next one.


	16. Ch 16: Investigations Begin

AN/ Again, sorry about the wait. But here is the next one. Ed is starting to look into a few things now, he also is getting some interesting ideas, heh heh. Oh, and don't worry, I haven't suddenly made McGonagall senile in a moment of crisis. As I said, it _seemed_ as though she was too preoccupied to notice Ed, but she knew he was there. I'm having her keep quiet at the moment though, there is a reason for it. Anyway, the next one shouldn't be too long off, hopefully. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Everyone knows the drill by now, not mine.

**Ch 14: Investigations Begin**

Ed ended up having to wait until after dinner until he could get into Snapes office where he had found out they had taken the necklace.

It took him a while to track the man down, considering he kept his office down in the dungeons, not that that was much of a surprise really.

Once he found it, he waited until the Slytherins had all passed on their way back to their common room for the night then he made his move.

Checking the corridor carefully for Filch or that sentry of a cat of his, Ed slipped up to the door to the dungeon room that Snape used as an office. He knew that the irritating Professor was in a meeting with the headmaster, he had passed him on his way down here, but he had no wish to be caught hanging around this particular office, that was for sure.

After making sure the hallway was clear once more, he clapped his hands and touched his palms to the wall beside the door. There was a bright flash of light and Ed swiftly slipped through the narrow slit he had created in the wall and just as swiftly closed it behind him.

The dingy room he found himself in was damp and musty and very dim. The shelves along the walls held all sorts of odd things in jars of solution, some of which Ed had no desire whatsoever of getting a closer look at.

The cupboard he was looking for was at the back of the room. It was a rickety old thing but it was wreathed in protection spells, used as it was for dangerous items.

Slipping up to the thing, Ed looked it over carefully and swore under his breath. He could see the signs of detection spells, protection hexes and some nasty trap spells keyed into the timber. There wasn't much hope of him getting a good look at that necklace. Not unless he could find a way to overcome the magical locks.

There was one other avenue he could try. If he could get an idea of what the thing looked like, he may be able to find it in one of the curse books he had been studying. The only thing was, the only ones who had seen it were Ron, Hermione and Harry and as he had already discovered, those three were much too curious for their own good half the time. Weighing the possible consequences he decided that he needed to find out more about this necklace if he could. For something as dangerous as that thing seemed to be to get this close to the school meant that the danger was closer then they had anticipated.

Slipping his way out of Snapes office, he stalked back through the halls, trying to come up with some way to question the Griffindore trio without either raising an alarm with them or having them turn uncooperative with him, as Ron and Hermione seemed to have been getting whenever Harry mentioned any of his own theories.

He had left the dungeons and had gotten nearly as far as the library when he met Snape coming in the opposite direction. Since their little encounter at the gate when he had returned from the ministry that day, the professor had pretty much ignored him, except to throw a venomous glare his way every now and then. This time it wasn't any different.

Snape simply sneered at him and continued down the hall and Ed threw a smirk at his back, it was a relief not to butt heads with the man every time he saw him.

He was turning back to continue towards the tower when he stepped back with startled oath. Floating in front of him, was what appeared to be Harry's disembodied head.

"Oh, sorry Ed. Didn't mean to startle you." Harry said quietly, slipping off what appeared to be a long cloak of some kind. Ed eyed it wearily, invisibility was something he hadn't thought to be prepared for.

Recovering himself slightly he glanced back the way Snape had disappeared and hissed, "What the hell are you doing out in the halls at this time of night? If you get caught you could be in some serious trouble."

Harry raised an eyebrow at him and answered quietly, "I could say the same thing to you but after that little performance with Snape it looks as though there are a few other things about you that you haven't told us. I guess you weren't kidding when you said that getting caught by teachers after hours wouldn't be a problem for you."

Ed pulled at his braid, debating how to handle this. What the hell, he needed information from Harry anyway and this was as good a time as any.

Reaching out, he took hold of the sleeve of the other boy's robe and pulled him into the library. Motioning for him to remain silent, Ed slipped behind the librarian's desk and rummaged through the basket he had left there.

Disregarding Ed's warning Harry called to him softly, "You know, if Madam Pince discovers that you have been messing with her desk, you will be banned from the library for life."

Ed threw a smirk at him that would have made Mustang proud, "Really Harry, I am disappointed in you. I would have thought by now you would have figured out that the usual school rules have changed in my case."

Finding the book he was after, he slipped amongst the shelves to the table he had claimed for his studies. He had placed a lantern there earlier in the week along with a striker and Madam Pince had made sure that it was left there. She knew he had permission to study after hours, so she made sure there was a safe source of light for him after discovering he couldn't use a wand for the same purposes.

Waving Harry into one of the seats, Ed sat across from him and he could easily read the thoughtfulness in the others eyes.

"Tell me Ed." Harry began before he could say anything, "Just exactly what were you doing in Snapes office? I mean if you want to get him to hate you more there are safer ways to go about it."

Ed knew that Harry had some idea of what he was looking for, so he saw no reason to lie. "I needed to get a look at that necklace. I am supposed to be here to track down clues to Voldemorts whereabouts after all. That attack may not have been thought out very well, but it was a dangerous one, even if it failed. I need to find out as much as I can, a dangerous enemy is bad enough but add carelessness into the mix and you have innocents getting involved."

Harry blinked at him then shook his head, "You know, I had half convinced myself you were pulling our leg about the whole military thing, but you were serious weren't you? Alright, I can give you a pretty good description of the thing, but better then that I can tell you where they got it from. It's a rather ornate looking opal necklace, they had it for sale at Borgin and Burkes. I saw it in my second year. There was a card perched on the thing that read; _Caution: do not touch. Cursed – has claimed the lives of nineteen muggle owners to date._ It looked as though it had been there for a while though."

Ed narrowed his eyes at the description. He was fairly sure he had come across this particular item before. Flicking through the book on curses he had picked up earlier he came to the page he was looking for and skimmed rapidly through the paragraph.

"It is good thing that Katie didn't touch that thing outright." He mused. Flipping the book around, he shoved it in front of Harry, "Is that it?"

Examining the illustration on the page, Harry turned to the cover of the book and read the title, "Yeah that's it. But where the heck did you get this thing? I doubt it is approved reading."

Taking the book back, Ed read more carefully through the description of the curse placed on this particular necklace, "It's one of the one's from the restricted area." He answered absently, not even taking much notice of the shocked look on Harry's face.

Finally looking up form the book he frowned slightly as a thought struck him, "Hang on, how the hell did you know I was in Snapes office, anyway? and what the heck _are_ you doing out so late?"

Harry looked a little uncomfortable, "Uh, I noticed you hadn't followed us when we went back to the common room, so I came looking for you." He answered evasively.

Sighing in irritation, Ed reached into his pocket and slapped down his passes, "I have special permission by Dumbledore to patrol the halls and I have unrestricted access to any and all notes, research materials and books. That is why I don't need to be concerned about teachers and why I can get my hands on book that you cannot. So I ask again, how the hell did you know I was in Snapes office?"

Harry read the passes and shook his head, his eyes wide in surprise. "Alright, I'll tell you. But suffice to say, keep it to yourself." Reaching into his own robes he pulled out a folded piece of parchment. Tapping it with his wand he muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Ed watched in amazement and lines and words spread across the page, revealing an incredibly detailed map of the school. Looking at it closely he was shocked to see that it even showed where individual people were.

"Well, that certainly explains a few things." He commented mildly.

Looking closer, he caught sight of something that had him frowning in thought, "Is that what I think it is?" he asked, pointing at one particular passage that seemed to lead out of the school grounds.

Harry nodded, "Ah huh. It is one of the secret passages out of the school. This one takes you into the cellar at Honeydukes, the candy shop. This other one," he pointed to another passage that seemed to start out in the grounds themselves, "It starts under the old whomping willow, and leads to the shrieking shack."

Frowning, Ed traced both passages, "Is there any trick to using these passages?" he asked absently. He caught sight of the rather odd look Harry was giving him and he stared at him seriously, "I have my reasons for wanting to know."

That seemed to be enough for now, Harry turned back to the map, "This one you need a spell to enter." He told him, pointing to the Honeydukes passage, "But this one," he pointed to the other one. "All you have to do is avoid the tree. There is a knot in the base of the roots that you need to press on to freeze the branches for a moment before the thing whollops you. There are a few others but as far as the previous owners of this map were able to tell me most of the others have been sealed."

Ed memorised the location of both tunnels. He had a feeling that they would come in handy at some point.

Harry's voice broke into his thoughts, "Hey Ed. Do you think I'm nuts as well over this Malfoy thing?"

Ed looked up at him and saw the frustration in his eyes, "Neither Hermione of Ron will listen to anything I'm saying at the moment and now the two of them are arguing over something totally stupid, completely ignoring the fact that everything is falling apart."

Ed frowned in thought, sitting back in his chair, "I'm not entirely sure about Malfoy, but he is a suspicious character. I intent to watch that one closely. My superior has given me permission to keep you informed of anything I discover, so you can leave that side of things to me." He rose to his feet, Harry following him as he replaced the book behind the desk, "You have another meeting with Dumbledore tomorrow, don't you?"

Harry blinked at the change in subject, "Yeah, if he gets back in time. He wasn't at dinner tonight."

Ed nodded, "Tell him of your suspicions, that way at least he will have some warning as well. He told me that one of his best assets in regards to information gathering was the student body."

They spoke quietly as they made their way through the halls, Harry had thrown his cloak over his head once they had left the library and Ed was left with the rather eerie situation of talking to himself.

"How much has Dumbledore told the other teachers about you, anyway?" Harry asked suddenly and Ed chuckled.

"Not much as far as I can tell. They all seem a little unsure of what to do with me. But I have a feeling that McGonagall at least knows something."

There was a faint noise of agreement from his invisible companion, "Come to think of it, she didn't say anything about you following us into her office this afternoon. I just figured she overlooked you."

Ed shook his head, his memory supplying him with the brief look that the old witch had given him as he had entered after the others. "Oh no, she knew I was there. I wish I knew how much she had been told however, it is a little difficult working around the teachers if you don't know how informed they are."

Harry gave a chuckle, "Well you don't have to worry about Snape in that regard I think."

Instead of laughing, Ed grew thoughtful. As much as he disliked the man, there was something there as well that didn't quiet match up. He had been told that Dumbledore trusted the man for some unknown reason, despite him being an ex death eater. As much as he had been able to fathom about the old man, there had to be something binding that faith. Not only that but on numerous occasions in the past five years the slimy Professor had even helped Harry out, albeit reluctantly, but as nasty as he could be he hadn't actually done anything harmful.

Professor Snape was another individual he intended to watch. There was just too much here that didn't make sense."

"Hey, Ed. You still there?" shaking his head clear, Ed looked up to find they had reached the portrait hole. Giving the password, he slipped through, Harry following, pulling off the cloak as they portrait swung shut.

"So, are you going to bed yet?" the young wizard asked him.

Ed shook his head, "Not just yet. I have to write a report first and I have some homework to finish."

"Alright then. Don't stay up too late though, you'll start to turn into Hermione." Harry disappeared up the stairs to the dormitory and Ed settled down in one of the seats before the fire.

Reaching down by the chair, he pulled out a book bag he had left there this morning and drew out a sheet of parchment and a quill. It didn't take him long to note down everything that had occurred that day, but he made sure to make a detailed description of the necklace, including all he had found about the cures attached to it and everything about it's origins that the book had described.

Once he had completed his report, he slipped it back into the bag to be delivered in the morning, then he drew out his Defence Against the Dark Arts book. He still had to find some way to counter magic with alchemy. After he had noticed the connection between the two he had started to think that there actually might be a way to do it. He had a few theories, but he was rather unwilling to test them without some sort of damage control, so he went through the notes he had taken, determined to try some of it out in his classes. He had a few that he planned to try in charms class as well. All the study he had put into curses and set spells had given him some interesting ideas.

'_Feh, I wounder if Snape would enjoy being my test subject.'_ He thought, with amusement. He studied the standard attack spell that Snape seemed to proffer to use when giving his 'demonstrations'. If he had his calculations right, he should be able to give the man a rather rude shock next time they had class.

…………………..

AN/ Hmmm, I read over the previous chapters and I have to say I am a little ashamed of the amount of typing errors. Normally I go over my work again and again to make sure I eliminate all the mistakes but as you can see, I didn't with this one. Oh well, I'll edit it all eventually. As it is, it is not too serious, it is at least readable. So, please forgive the typos for now, until I get a chance to fix them all.

See ya.


	17. Ch 17: Lesson 1: U don't know everything

AN/ Sorry if this one is a little short, was fun to write though. Ha, public humiliation for Snape. (If no one has guessed, I don't really like the creep). Ok, the science stuff in here, sorry if it is inaccurate at all, it has been a few years since senior Physics, but I tried to make it sound plausible. Well, hope this one lives up to standard. On to Chapter 17.

Disclaimer: No I don't own it ((yet) ever).

**Ch 17: Lesson 1: I Guess You Don't know Everything**

Lining up outside Snape's classroom the next morning after breakfast, Ed went over the theories he had managed to come up with in his head. It would be a perfect opportunity to test some of his ideas once class got started and he found himself chaffing at waiting for the stupid teacher to arrive.

"Hey Ed." At the soft greeting he turned to find Harry coming up behind him. The other boy had an annoyed look on his face and for once the other two were not with him, "Hey Harry. Ron and Hermione late or something?"

At his question, Harry looked back the way he had come then turned back, a sour look on his face, "I dunno. The two of them are having a stupid argument again."

Ed remembered what had happened at breakfast and he eyed Harry curiously, "So, did you really put that luck potion in Ron's drink?" he knew that they were supposed to have a big Quidditch match that afternoon and he remembered Harry grumbling about Ron being off his game.

Harry snorted and glanced around again as if to make sure they weren't overheard, "Nah. I just thought I would make them believe I had. Ron doesn't need luck, all he needs is confidence."

Ed snickered, "That's a rather backhanded trick to play on a friend." He observed, though he could see the merit in it.

Harry just huffed in annoyance, "I know. But it was either that, or knock them both out. We have enough to worry about this afternoon without Ron being in knots over his performance lately. Having my keeper quit after the first match of the year would be all I needed."

They were interrupted by the arrival of Snape. Ron and Hermione hurrying up just as the rest of the class filed into the room.

Like their previous lessons, Snape had the students pair off to practice non-verbal casting again but this time Ed didn't slip back to sit out of the way. Instead he walked up to the teacher and slipped his hands into his pockets, "I have an idea I would like to try."

Snape glowered down at him and flipped the corner of his robe up over his arm, "Excuse me?" the edge in his voice clearly stated he still hadn't forgotten the 'Professor Spaz' comment and Ed mentally rolled his eyes.

"Look, Dumbledore put me in this class in order for me to study magical attacks and such in order for me to come up with ways to counter them. I have something I want to try."

A slimy smirk spread across the man's face and this time Ed did roll his eyes, _'Jeez, he is so predictable. Should have guessed he'd jump at the chance to throw jinxes at me.'_

"Alright Mr Elric," he answered smoothly, "I think that this would be an interesting demonstration for the whole class." Turing his sharp eyes to the rest of the students he barked, "Step back and make duelling room."

Everyone shuffled back, leaving a large space in the centre of the room. Ed could see looks of curiosity on most of the faces and a few smirks on the Slytherin's in the class.

Marching to his end of the cleared area, Ed nodded absently at his three friends, then slipped his hands into his robes, pulling out a few large, neatly folded pieces of paper he had drawn up the night before.

Leafing through them, he pulled one free then placed it carefully on the ground at his feet and stepped into the centre of the complex array drawn on it. It was an annoyance doing things this way, but he still thought it prudent to keep the full extent of his abilities quiet. Not that he wasn't planning on trouncing the teacher if his theories worked.

He turned to face his opponent and raised an eyebrow, giving a rather evil grin.

"Well sir?" his voice was deliberately mocking and he had to keep back from snickering at the flash of annoyance that crossed the man's face. It was just so easy to get to him.

"Alright Mr Elric. Let us see if this alchemy of yours is worth all the talk."

Pulling a wand out of his robes, Snape struck a formal duelling pose and Ed nearly sighed, he looked so stupid. Before any other thoughts could cross his mind however, the lanky Professor swept his arm over fast and shot a ball of energy at him without using a spoken incantation.

Ed reacted instantly, his left hand gripped his right wrist and he held his right hand palm down to the array beneath his feet. Blue, lightning like energy crackled from his hand and infused the lines of the circle swiftly, activating the array.

This time, instead of the glow shooting up from the design, the blue white light domed up over Ed's head in a shimmering shield in time to catch the blast that had been levelled at him, absorbing the shot completely before shimmering out.

Looking down at the charred remains of the paper he had been standing on Ed chuckled in satisfaction before turning his amused gaze to the rather dumbfounded Professor. The students standing off to the side were staring in shocked awe. "So Professor, I think we have established that my alchemy stands up your magic. I guess it is worth all the rumours." He kept his face blank but his tone practically oozed sarcasm.

Snape narrowed his eyes at him and started to stalk in a circle, Ed at its centre. "Perhaps so, Mr Elric." He hissed softly, his sharp eyes boring into him, "That was well blocked, but you have one serious problem. Now your precious paper is gone. How on earth are you planning on catching the next one? I certainly do not intend to allow you time to draw your circle."

As soon as he said that he levelled his wand at Ed again but he was ready for him. Knowing the idiots personality, he'd had no doubts the man would eventually pull that on him.

This time, Ed snapped his right hand up in front of his face and touched two fingers of his left hand to the circle he had drawn on the back of his glove.

He wasn't creating a shield this time, instead the array actually became visible in the air in front of him, like a huge web sketched in light. The teachers blast hit the design and flared brightly before it too spread out through the circle. The design pulsed slightly and then all the energy condensed itself and shot back at Snape, catching him fair in the chest and sending him slamming into a wall.

There was a strained chuckle from the watching class, but Ed kept his eyes on his opponent. Snape pulled himself to his feet, having not been injured by the counter attack, but his expression was one of hatred. "Well well, looks as though the little alchemist has managed to come up with a few attacks as well. I never would have believed that your small brain would have been up to the challenge of countering magic with alchemy."

Ed felt his blood simmering and he narrowed his eyes at the nasty smile on Snape's face. The slime ball had just had the tenacity to insult not only his height, but his intelligence too, all in the same breath.

Growling, he clenched his right hand, longing to plant the metal appendage right on the tip of that hooked nose.

"Come come, Mr Elric. Don't tell me that is all you can do. Surly you have something else up you sleeve. After all, there is nothing you can do if I take away those all important circles of yours, is there?"

Before Ed could react, a blast came from behind him and hit his right hand. It wasn't strong enough to do any damage, but it did destroy the back of his glove.

Snape took immediate advantage and levelled his wand again, but Ed had already had enough. The underhanded tactic of having one of the Slytherins attack him from behind snapped the tight hold he had been keeping on his temper and he threw caution out the window.

There was a sharp _clap_ and the next thing the professor knew, he found himself pinned to the wall with the sharp edge of Ed's transmuted arm pressed lightly against the collar of his robes. "I guess you don't know everything, do you Professor?" he told him softly. "Not only is a circle not necessary for me, but I have noticed that if you get inside a wizards reach, there is not much he can do about it before you kill him."

The respect and slight twinge of fear in the man's dark eyes cooled Ed's temper a little and he gave a snort of disgust, stepping back and letting the teacher stumble to his feet.

They stood staring at each other for a long moment, then Ed turned away. Changing his arm back, he picked up his books and strode from the classroom, not caring if the class was over or not.

Apparently it was, for it wasn't long before Harry, Hermione and Ron caught up to him and the rest of the class rushed passed, casting rather nervous looks in his direction.

Ed sighed then gripped his braid and yanked at it in annoyance, _'Great, Mustang is going to chew my arse off when he hears about this one.'_ He groused to himself, not paying too much attention to anything else. A light cough caught his attention and he turned his head to look back at Hermione.

The girl had an awed look on her face, "Ed, how on earth did you manage to counter Snapes spells like that?"

Ed slipped his ungloved hand into his pocket out of sight and frowned slightly, trying to think of a way to explain exactly what he had done.

"Basically, I countered his magical energy with natural energy." He answered, rather musingly.

"Ah, what exactly does that mean?" Ron asked in confusion and Ed shook his head.

"Look, we have a spare before lunch, how about we head down to the main hall, and I'll explain as much as I can. You have a game this afternoon, so there is no point in studying." The other three agreed, even Hermione, which was surprising, although Ed should have expected it. She was as curious, if not more so, then the other two about what he had managed to come up with.

They settled themselves at the far end of the Griffindore table, away from the handful of other students using the hall and Ed had slipped a spare glove he'd kept in his pocket over his hand, replacing the scorched remains of the one he had been wearing. As soon as they were all seated, Ed took out his notebook and leafed through to some of the diagrams he had sketched.

"To follow this you have to understand some of how magic works." He explained to them, "I know that you use it rather instinctively, and as far as I can tell, no one has really looked into exactly what magical energy is. Truth told it is basically life energy, the living force that your own body creates."

He caught the eyes of the other three, seeing if they were following. Hermione looked fascinated, Harry thoughtful, Ron just looked a little glazed.

"From what I have been able to gather," he continued, "Wizards and witches are people who are born with the ability to manipulate their own life energy. The spells you use are drawn directly from your own strength."

Harry nodded, his green eyes narrow in speculation, "That is why you burn out if you are not careful."

"That's right. What I did, was to use natural energy as a counter. The first array I used," flipping over his notebook, he displayed the mathematically precise drawing on the page, "This one is basically a transmutation circle for light. Basically it converts air particles into light particles. It's a little more complicated then that but that's the basis anyway. What I did, was to change the array slightly," he pointed to the elaborate looking geometric patterns that surrounded the rather simple core of the design. "This gathered the light energy and the kinetic energy given off by the array itself and wove them into the shield. The trick in this one was to get the energy used in the shield to equal that of Snapes blast, that's why I waited until he attacked me first before I activated it. I needed to ascertain the frequency of his spell."

Ed noticed Ron's eyes getting more and more glazed by the second, but the other two seemed to be following him.

"I think I see." Hermione mused softly, "If you can create an energy shield that is equal in frequency but opposite in wavelength, you would neutralise the attack."

Ed nodded, "Exactly. If the frequency was too high, the blast would have bounced off, too low and it would have gotten through."

Harry frowned slightly, "I think I am following. Physics isn't really my subject seeing as much of it doesn't really apply in the magical world."

Hermione shook her head and answered before Ed could, "That is where you are wrong. Natural law still applies in magic, the rules are just changed slightly. What about the counter shot?" this last was said to Ed.

Flipping the page over in his notebook, he displayed another circle, the one that had been drawn on his glove, "This one is to create lightning. It works by basically ionising the water vapour in the air, pretty much the same thing that happens to create natural lightning. What I did, was contain the ionised particles, capture Snapes spell in the array was well, and convert it all into a single burst of energy with the opposite polarity of the spell. So in other words, it was hurled back to where it came from, carrying the lighting charge with it."

Hermione shook her head in amazement, "Brilliant." She murmured.

Ron laughed aloud, "Old Snape didn't know what hit him." He chortled, "I didn't follow half of that, but it was bloody brilliant to see him get hammered."

Harry stared thoughtfully at the table, tapping his captains badge against the polished wood.

Catching sight of the polished metal, Ed figured a change in topic was in order, as other student were filing in for lunch. Many of them staring at Ed, he noticed with annoyance, looked as though the story was already spreading. Change in topic definitely in order.

"So, this game this afternoon, who is it against again?"

………………..

AN/ Just a heads up, people did notice the whole blade thing and no circle, but no one has really assimilated it _yet_. That is coming up though. Well hope you like.

See ya.


	18. Ch 18: Quidditch and a Mission

AN/ I wanted to put in a few things here, skip over them if you like, I just wanted to clear up a few facts.

In regards to Pianogirl123's question, as you will see in the explanation I'm putting in below, much of the science I put in this is based in what I remember from my Physics classes. As I mentioned at the start of the last chapter, some details may be a little off, if so I apologise, but I didn't make it up.

To Anon reviewer about the physics that I listed. I didn't just type in any nonsense here, some of my physics may be rusty but not totally incorrect. Instead of going in to detail, here are a couple quotes from Griffiths, D. J. "The Photon (1900-1924)." §1.2 in _Introduction to Elementary Particles._ New York: Wiley, pp. 14-17, 1987 "Light is a general term referring to electromagnetic radiation in the visible part of the spectrum. Like all electromagnetic radiation, light comes in discrete packets known as photons." "In 1923, Compton cemented the case for photons by observing the wavelength shift of light scattered from a particle at rest (a result known as the Compton effect) and explaining the observations by treating light as composed of massless particles with energy ."

The whole light particles thing is real theory, not something I made up. I don't mind constructive criticism, but please don't tell me I am wrong when I have put in the research. Light is generally treated as having both wave and particle characteristics, I just simplified it a little (as Ed explains) to make it easier to follow. And about the conservation of mass laws, I'm not creating or destroying mass, just converting it, which, after all _is_ the whole theory behind transmutation.

Anyway, I hope I didn't annoy anyone with the long authors note, I just wanted to clear things up.

Oh, if anyone was curious, the idea for Ed's shield came from an experiment I remember doing for extra credit in year 11. Guess the science comes in handy when you least expect it, heh. On with the chapter. (Sorry it took so long.)

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah. Not mine.

**Ch 18: Quidditch and a mission**

After lunch, Ed headed out into the grounds with Hermione while the other two went to join the rest of the team. The weather was crystal clear, though slightly chilly, frost crunching underfoot as the students and teachers filed out to an odd pitch. There were three hoops on either end that towered high in the air, looking for all the world like overgrown soap bubble wands and the oval field was surrounded by huge spectator towers.

"Come on Ed, lets find a good seat."

Whatever had been bothering Hermione for the past few days seemed to have disappeared for the moment and she gripped at the sleeve of his robes, towing him through the crowd towards one of the towers.

"Why on earth do we have to be so high up?" he complained as he was led up the interior stairs and then down along the tiers of seats to a clear spot near the front.

Hermione pulled him down to sit next to her then pointed at the teacher walking out onto the pitch. "That is Madam Hooch. She is the referee." She explained, seeming to ignore his question. Ed followed her pointing finger and saw the form of a short haired witch standing in the centre of the field. She was dressed in black and white robes and she carried in her hand a broomstick.

At the sight of the broom, Ed's eyes narrowed, "I thought you lot were pulling a fast one with all that talk about brooms," he muttered aside to her, "Are you actually telling me they _do_ fly on those things?"

He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to laugh or not. If there was anything from the old tales about magic he had heard as a kid that he would have sworn was complete and utter hogwash, it would have been the whole broomstick thing.

Yet, here was a girl, apparently born into the _normal_ world, exclaiming as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Of course they fly on them, that is why we are so high up. The game is played in the air."

Turning his attention back to the pitch, Ed decided not to ask anything else, the answers were just too disturbing.

Just then a gate opened up on both ends of the pitch and two teams of students strode out, brooms in hand.

Ed recognised the red and gold of his own team and the green and silver of Slytherin.

Hermione was looking at the teams below, a slight frown on her face, "Something the matter?" Ed could have sworn that he saw a flicker of annoyance spread across her face. Not at his question but at something that had gone through her mind.

"Not really." She answered absently, "Just that it looks as though Malfoy has decided not to play. That's odd."

Ed scanned the green clad players and couldn't find the white haired jerk amongst them, "Keh, maybe he's sick." He shrugged, not really caring but he saw out of the corner of his eye that Hermione wasn't convinced and the Slytherin's absence disturbed her slightly.

"Look, if it is that big a deal, we can go ask the creep later." He offered. Hermione glanced at him, then smiled ruefully.

"No, it's nothing. It is just a little strange for him to pass up the opportunity to humiliate our house. Or more specifically, Harry, Ron or me."

Below them, the teams had gathered in a circle on the pitch, each team taking up half. At the teachers orders, the two captains stepped forward and shook hands then both teams took flight.

Ed just stared in bemusement at the circle of students that stared down at the lone figure on the ground, watching the ball in the referees hands like hawks. About twenty feet above them hovered Harry and one of the Slytherin team, the Seekers, if he remembered correctly. This had to be the most bazaar sport he had ever heard of. Suddenly the teacher kicked open a crate at her feet and two black streaks, followed by a tiny gold one zipped up through the circle of players. Before Ed could assimilate what was going on, Madam Hooch blew a whistle sharply and heaved the red ball she had been holding into the air and both teams erupted into action.

"_Well, there they go, and I think we're all surprised at the team that Potter has put together this year. Many thought that given Ronald Weasley's patchy performance last year, that he might be off the team, but of course, a close personal friendship with the Captain does help…"_

Ed wasn't really paying attention to the commentators words but beside him, Hermione growled slightly and Ed spared her a glance to see her glaring in the direction of the scoreboard.

Turning back to what was happening, Ed was all but holding his breath. The students where tearing along the pitch at breakneck speeds and there was two black balls zipping around like cannon balls, attacking anything that flew close.

It looked like utter chaos and over it all Harry circled, his eyes watching everything at once.

"_Oh, and here comes Slytherin's first attempt at a goal, it's Urquhart streaking down the pitch and.."_

Ed snapped his attention to the Griffindor goal to see a green clad arrow pelting in on Rons position. He held his breath as the red ball shot towards the goal.

"_And Weasley saves it, well he's bound to get lucky sometime I suppose…"_

For some reason the commentators words had Hermione looking even more cross. Deciding to ignore her for the moment, Ed sat forward to enjoy the game. This was certainly more exciting then he had first thought it would be.

Through out the match, the commentator continued to make snide remarks, many along the lines of wondering if the only reason there were two Weasleys on the team was because they were friends of Harry. Although Ed noticed that after about a ahlf an hour, those comments started to drop off in favour of dissing someone else as Ron made some truly spectacular saves and a small red head girl that Ed assumed was the sister Ron was always talking about scored four of Griffindor's six goals.

Things continued along the same lines, the Griffindor team in high form if the crowds reactions were anything to go by. Ed grinned when he caught the words of the war cry that had been taken up, something along the lines of _"Weasley is our king.."_ looking up, he saw Ron conducting them from his broom and he chuckled. Looked as though Harry's little deception had worked.

Suddenly the Griffindor's in the crowd roared angrily and Ed saw the Slytherin Seeker slam into Harry, nearly knocking him off his broom. He seemed to be hissing something at Harry before he took off up the pitch, Harry in hot pursuit. Ed got a look at his face as he streamed past and he smiled grimly, Harry was not pleased.

"_And I think that Harper of Slytherin has seen the snitch. Yes, he has certainly seen something that Potter hasn't!"_

Ed didn't take his eyes off the two speeding figures, Harry suddenly accelerating desperately, both flyers streaming upwards. "What the hell is going on?" he called to Hermione over the commotion around them.

Hermione seemed to have forgotten her irritation for now, for her voice was high with excitement, "Whomever catches the snitch, wins." She exclaimed, "Harper must have spotted it after he rammed Harry. If Harry doesn't get a move on, Griffindor will loose."

"Hang on, Griffindor is a hundred points up, how could they loose?"

"The snitch is worth a hundred and fifty points."

Ed blocked out the rest of the noise, concentrating fully on the speeding seekers. This was definitely the oddest sport he had ever come across.

Harry was reaching out, his hand almost level with Harpers feet when something made the Slytherin fumble slightly. There was a glint of gold that slipped out of his glove and Harry snatched at it as the other boy overshot.

"YES!" Ed could clearly hear Harry's shout just before the crowd erupted in cheers.

"We won, we won." Hermione yelled, grabbing at Ed's robes, "Hang on, what's Ginny doing?"

Ed followed her stare and saw the red head streaking towards the commentary box, there was an almighty crash as she slammed right into it and the crowd shrieked with laughter, knowing that the comments about her and her brother had prompted her actions.

With a chuckle Ed turned back to Hermione to find the irritated look on her face once again. _'Uh oh, wonder what has her so riled up.'_

Without saying anything, the girl turned to make her way down to the pitch and Ed followed her, wondering if her would have to intervene in yet another argument.

By the time they got through all the people, the rest of the team had left and they found both Ron and Harry just about to come out of the changing room. Hermione twisted her red and gold scarf in her hands, looking upset but determined and Ed mentally shook his head. Harry must have done something she didn't approve of.

"Harry, I want a word with you." She took a deep breath, "You shouldn't have done it. You heard Slughorn, it's illegal."

Ed saw Ron's expression turn slightly snide, "What are you going to do, turn us in?" he demanded.

"What are you to talking about?" Harry asked, turning to hang up his robes. He caught Ed's eye and winked, a grin spreading across his face and Ed ducked his head to hide the snicker that threatened to slip out.

"You know perfectly well what we're talking about!" Ed nearly winced at the shrill note in her voice, "You spiked Ron's juice with lucky potion at breakfast. Felix Felicis!"

"No I didn't," Harry turned back tot face the other two and Ed had to hand it to him for his calm attitude.

"Yes you did Harry, and that is why everything went right, there were Slythering players missing and Ron saved everything!"

Ed slapped his palm to his forehead at that comment, that one was going to come back to bite her.

"I didn't put it in!" Harry insisted, grinning broadly now. He reached into his pocket and drew out the tiny potion bottle, still clearly full and sealed with wax. Before they could even consider the possibility, Ed pulled out his own bottle and showed it to them just as Hermione turned to him, and opened her mouth to ask.

"I wanted Ron to think I'd done it, so I faked it while you were looking." Harry explained.

Ron's face was astonished and Ed chuckled outright, "There really wasn't anything in my pumpkin juice? But the weather is good… and Vaisey couldn't play… I honestly haven't been given lucky potion?"

Harry shook his head and Ron gapped at him for a moment then rounded on Hermione and Ed groaned, _'Here we go.'_

"_You added Felix Felicis to Ron's juice this morning, that's why he saved everything!_ See I can save goals without help Hermione."

"I never said you couldn't, Ron _you_ thought you had been given it too."

Ron pushed passed her without speaking and Ed sighed, these arguments were becoming a pain.

Harry looked rather stricken, "Er, Shall we go up to the after match party then?"

Ed saw tears in Hermione's eyes, "You two go, I'm _sick_ of Ron at the moment. I don't know what it is I'm supposed to have done."

She stormed out of the changing room as well and Harry turned despairing eyes to Ed, "Well, that certainly backfired." He commented.

Ed shrugged, pulling his arms over his head and stretching as the two of them walked out of the changing room and back up the grounds towards the castle, "Not much you can do as far as I can see." He told him, "From the look of things, what ever is eating at the two of them has been building for a while."

Harry grunted a little sourly, "You have no idea. And it is all over something stupid."

Ed sniffed and slipped his hands into his pockets, "It usually is. Not that I have much experience with others my age, seeing as I am around adults all the time. The only people I have contact with other then military personnel are my brother and occasionally Winry. Other then that, there are only the people we run into when on assignment." He looked over at Harry to find the other boy looking at him oddly.

"That seems to be a rather dreary life." He finally commented, then a faint smirk appeared on his face and Ed braced himself, that expression on anyone's face didn't bode well, "So who is Winry?"

Ed's face went flat with embarrassment and he hunched his shoulders, "She's my mechanic, ok? We grew up together, her, Al and me. She's also the best automail mechanic around." He caught the amusement in Harry's eyes and he felt himself blush even more, time for some payback.

"So, was that Red head girl Ginny Weasley? The one I have been hearing so much about?" he didn't imagine it, Harry's face went pale and then slightly red at the mention of the girls name and Ed snickered, "Don't worry. I'll keep my mouth shut." Harry threw a rather relived look his way and Ed laughed again before an owl call had him looking up. A rather fierce looking tufted owl swooped down to him and he held up his right arm for the bird to land.

"That is a ministry owl." Harry told him, reaching out to help him untie the message attached to the birds leg. As soon as the letter was free, the owl pushed off and launched itself back into the air, the two boys having their full attention on the letter in Ed's hand.

"What the hell is the ministry sending you mail for?" Harry demanded.

Ed flipped the letter over and looked at the seal, "It isn't from the ministry." He said absently, "It's from my superior officer." Slipping his nail under the seal, he opened the letter and read through it, a sinking feeling settling into his stomach.

Folding the note quickly, Ed glanced around the grounds. "I need you to do me a favour." He told Harry as his eyes landed on the huge tree that Harry had pointed out to him earlier, "If anyone asks where I am, tell them I have a private emergency to attend to and if they have any questions they should talk to Dumbledore."

"Ed, what is the matter?" Ed spared a glance at Harry's serious face and he nodded once.

"I'm being called to help with a _situation_. I let you know what happens when I get back."

Without explaining any further, he headed for the whomping willow. He needed to get out of the schools grounds and into the village, and this was the fasted way he could think of without having to deal with any nosy teachers.

…………………..

AN/ Sorry for the wait, and I know it is another short one. In this section of the book there is a lot of stuff about Ron and Hermione arguing over boys/girls etc. leading up to Christmas, so I needed to break Ed off a little for a while, that is why I am putting in the side mission, just to keep things interesting. I will keep some of the arguing in, to keep with the Harry book, but not too much as it doesn't exactly fit with the rest. Oh well, heh, nearly to Christmas. Yes. And Ed meeting some more of the mad Weasley family.

PS: I hope I didn't sound too harsh at the start of this, not my intention. Just wanted to clear up some questions.

Well, see ya.


	19. Herald of Nightmares

AN/_ I edited this one to fix some details to correspond with Brotherhood instead of the first anime.  
_

Disclaimer: No, I do not own either series, pity though.

**Chapter 19: Herald of Nightmares **

Eyeing the huge tree rather dubiously, Ed frowned in annoyance. From what Harry had told him, he had to find a particular knot in the base of the tree that was supposed to paralyze the thing. At first he had no idea what the young wizard was talking about, after all what sort of threat could a tree pose? The answer to that particular question was evident rather fast as soon as he tried to approach it.

The thing went insane, that was all Ed could think. It started to thrash it's huge branches around then targeted him, whipping at him with the smaller branches and fronds while trying to clobber him with the heavier arms.

'_Well, this certainly makes things interesting.'_ He thought, staring at the thrashing tree,_ 'Too bad I don't have time for this.'_

Taking a deep breath, he narrowed his eyes, carefully judging the timing before plunging through the branches for the opening he had spotted in the tree's base.

He didn't even bother looking for the knot on the trunk, he just sprinted forward and prayed.

Apparently his luck was in for a change and he managed to plunge past the thrashing branches and straight down into the opening of the tunnel without being clobbered.

Standing at the start of the tunnel, he waited long enough for his eyes to adjust to the dim light before plunging into the slightly damp passage.

The letter that the Colonel sent him played over and over in his mind and he felt a shudder run through him that had nothing to do with the faint chill in the air.

_Fullmetal,_

_There is word that there is to be an attack in one of the smaller communities near here. I need you to meet me at Hogsmead village. I don't care how you get there, just do it fast. What passes for the intelligence division here has informed me that this is not the normal way Voldemorts followers operate. They do not normally give notice._

_It has been ascertained that this situation is aimed specifically at us. _

_There have been reports of a certain individual leading these side attacks, one who's description I am sure you are familiar with. A certain individual that seems to have a problem with staying in their own form, if you catch my drift._

_If the Homunculi have been spotted here, I think that it comes under our jurisdiction to look into this._

_Col. Roy Mustang._

Damn, damn, damn and damn. He just hoped to hell it was only Envy and not the entire group that had shown up. Somehow he doubted that the homunculi teaming up with Voldemort and his followers would be a good thing. Especially with the connections this particular enemy had. If they somehow managed to incorporate magic into their own plans there was no telling the damage they could do.

The passage he had been following led to a rather rickety old building that actually seemed to sway in the wind.

Normally he would have been more interested to be within the walls of a building that was described as being one of the most haunted structures in Britain, but he had more urgent matters on his mind.

Making his way out of the shrieking shack, he wrapped his red and gold scarf tighter around his face and headed into the village. Mustang hadn't specified where he was to meet him, but he took a guess that if he headed for the tavern, a place called The Three Broomsticks, it would be a good gamble that he would find him.

He wasn't far wrong. After pushing open the door of the rather inviting looking pub, it wasn't hard for him to spot his superior, even over the heads of the ministry wizards gathered around him. At the sound of the door chimes, heads turned in his direction and a few faces went hard at the sight of his school robes but Ed ignored them all, arrowing in on the other alchemist in the room. He made his way through the gathered wizards and came up behind Mustang, who turned to face him, a serious look on his face in place of his usual mocking expression.

"Fullmetal." He greeted.

Ed pulled himself to attention and snapped off a salute, Mustang's only response being a raised eyebrow as he returned it. Ed flickered his eyes at the gathered wizards and the Colonel's characteristic smirk put in a brief appearance as he caught Ed's meaning. He had noticed the faintly disdainful looks thrown his superiors way and he had seen the contempt on those faces as soon as he entered the room. These people were supposed to be the wizarding equivalent of the military. Well if they were going to act so superior, Ed would show them how a good military officer should act, (_even if he would never actually think of himself as such._)

"Sir, reporting as ordered." He rapped out, glaring at the other man as if daring for him to comment. And in his mind he was growling at the man, _'Don't get used to it, jerk. I agreed to act appropriately while here, but this sort of crap is pushing matters.'_

Mustang nodded slightly, a faint smile on his lips and Ed knew he had gotten his message, "Very good, Major. At ease. There is something here that I want you to take a look at before we do anything." He waved him forward and Ed stepped up to the table.

Spread out over the wooden surface was a number of pieces of parchment, including sketched maps, and what looked like reports. Two sketches, however, caught his immediate attention. One was of a disturbingly familiar seal drawn in red ink.

"Homunculus." He hissed, a sinking feeling settling into his gut, he had hoped there was a mistake of some sort.

The wizards around him shifted uneasily but Ed ignored them, instead he turned directly to Mustang, "Confirmation on which one sir?"

The Colonel nodded towards the other sketch on the table and Ed pulled it over, one look had him swearing sulphurously.

"Look, Mustang I still don't see why we should get this child involved. This is not a game we are plying here. Send the child back to school while we handle this."

Ed felt his blood boiling and he gritted his teeth hard, casting a glance Mustang's way and caught his eye. "I think that I will allow you to handle this one, Fullmetal." A faintly malicious grin spreading across his face.

Ed growled, "First of all, moron, I have not idea who you are but if you are going to insult me, at least do it to my face." The older wizard he was addressing raised an eyebrow in surprise at the fury in his voice, "Secondly, I am not here to attend classes. If you want to continue to be effective, step out of my way and let me do my job." He was frankly fed up with arguing idiots who had no idea what they were talking about getting in his way all the time. He glared at the man until he backed off slightly, then he turned his attention to the desk again, "How many of these people have any experience with Homunculi at all?" he asked the room in general.

There was a faint shuffling before one voice barked out, "For crying out loud. For all we know these Homunculi are just the myth that they were always thought to be, why on earth are we listening to this kid?"

This time Ed didn't have a chance to retaliate before Mustang stepped in. "If you people would rather disregard our advice then by all means, Major Elric and myself will pack up and return home. But that also means that you are the ones who are left to deal with something you clearly have no idea how to handle. Major Elric has first hand experience with dealing with these creatures, with this one in particular. So I suggest you listen."

Ed studied the maps and reports spread over the table, ignoring the muttering around him. As far as he was concerned, the idiots could do as they pleased but he had to find out what the Homunculus was doing in Britain.

"We need to find out if only the one is here. Envy by himself isn't too much of a problem. My guess is he is just here to cause trouble but it would be better if we could find out for sure." He had the feeling there was something else to all this and his guess would be they had somehow found out about the lead he had on the philosophers stone and the aggravating shape shifter was there to keep an eye on him.

Mustang tapped a gloved finger on one of the reports, "The attack is scheduled to take place in an hour. Looks like your old friend wishes to say hello."

Ed grunted and scanned the report. This wasn't like Envy at all. The Homunculi had always worked through someone else before now, taking advantage of the greed and power of others to gain what they needed. He could see that this situation was different, taking into account that the power that they seemed to be researching this time had the very real possibility of back firing on them if they were not careful. All in all this was messy.

"So, what is the plan?" looking around the room, he studied the gathered wizards and witches. All of them had grim, hardened faces and he could tell that they had been sent in to handle many of these little 'situations'. There was even a familiar face in the crowd and he gave Tonks a brief nod as he caught sight of her.

"We will be moving in on the village, spread out to cover all of the civilians. We won't have enough time to get everyone out, we only received the message about fifteen minutes ago." A grizzled looking old wizard had stepped up to the table, continuing the discussion that Ed gathered he had interrupted when he entered. "I want all Auror's to spread out through the central square and keep an eye out for your fellows. We do not need any casualties on this one but we also have no idea what they are going to use. The Death Eaters have been kept in reserve recently after all of the wanted posters were put out, but that doesn't mean we can relax. The Dementors will be our main problem." He threw a look at the two non wizards in the room, "The alchemists are going to need protection if they show up. Just remember to keep clear of them otherwise. No need for friendly fire incidents." That last bit was thrown at Mustang and Ed nearly choked holding back his snort of laughter.

The plans were laid down as fast as possible and Ed soon found himself stalking through the quiet streets of a small village about twenty miles north of Hogsmead.

They had managed to get a warning to the residents and they had all gone into hiding but from what he could gather, if things got out of hand, hiding would not save you.

Looking to either side, Ed could just make out the robed shapes of two Aurors. Mustang was off to the right, further around, searching a section of the town that was slightly less flammable.

The mist that had descended once the sun set muffled a great deal of noise and Ed found himself straining to hear the footsteps of the two men flanking him. He shivered slightly and clenched his right hand nervously, keeping his eyes moving.

He had not missed his brothers solid presence behind his shoulder more then he did at that moment.

He had to bite back on a yell as a shout went up from off to the left and he stared up in awe as the sky was suddenly illuminated by a sickly green light. High over their heads a huge sign etched itself into the air and he shivered. It was a huge grinning skull and as he watched a hissing snake slithered out of the snarling mouth. _'Ok, now that is scary. Damn, talk about intimidation.'_ He had to fight hard to keep from giggling hysterically but he snapped back into focus as he recognized the shouts of spells coming from all around him.

One spell overshot it's target and rebounded at him, without even thinking about it, he clapped his hands and threw his alchemy shield up to catch the blast.

"Well, well, well. The Fullmetal Pipsqueak certainly has put his time here to good use."

Ed shuddered at that grating voice and spun around to face the Homunculus, a sneer on his face, "What the hell are you doing here Envy? I would have thought that your lot would keep out of a fight on this sort of scale. Never thought that you would put yourselves at such risk."

The short, spiky haired creature shrugged, a nasty grin on his face, "You're right, of course. This sort of thing is way too high profile for us. At least at the moment. But you, little alchemist, need to be watched. I'm sure you figured that one out already. I personally have no interest how this little skirmish sorts itself out, I just thought I would drop by with a greeting."

Ed clapped and drew his hand over his metal arm, drawing forth the sharp blade he had recently used on a certain aggravating teacher, "So, am I to take care of the mistake of your existence now, or are you going to run again?"

Envy grinned at him and Ed kept back the shudder at the sight of the Homunculus's sharp teeth, "Come now, Pipsqueak, what do you think?"

Ed stepped forward, but not fast enough, both him and the newly arrived Mustang unable to get near Envy before the creature vanished in the chaos of flying spells.

Ed started to swear, the usual feelings of disgust, fear and guilt shivering through him at the reappearance of one of those creepy things.

Another cry went up as the spells around them seemed to stop and there were screams of alarm.

"Colonel, what the hell is…" Ed broke off with a shudder as a wave of ice seemed to sweep down his spine. Looking up he saw horrifying spectres swooping down at them. They looked like shredded black robes, the hoods pulled low to hide whatever was within.

Ed felt his mind freeze as the shivering cold seemed to seep into his very being, his body going ridged. Dementors.

'_**What is a soul really? When you come down to it is just the spark of life.'** 'No, please no'_ he pleaded silently,_ **'This is our blood, that comes from her blood, that should be more then enough.'** 'No, I don't want to see this again.'_ Waves of despair swept through his heart and Ed could feel his throat clench on the need to scream.

He could faintly see robed figures rushing towards him but before they reached him, his mind was plunged back into his worst nightmare.

'**_Brother, help me.' 'Al, no, don't leave me Al._** NO!" the last ripped from his throat and he screamed just as a half a dozen voices around him yelled in unison, "EXPECTO PATRONUM." And everything went dark.

….

AN/ Heh, I know, evil ending. But, by popular request, the Homunculi have arrived, well at least one of them has at the moment. By the way, I have absolutely no idea if Envy is male. I am sorry if I am wrong but my brother and I haven't been able to figure that one out yet. Also, I am planning on a sequel to this so if Al doesn't make his appearance, do not panic as he _will_ be in the next one. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and thanks to those who reviewed.

See ya.


	20. Images of Despair

AN/_ Again, edited to fix detail issues_

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, all someone else's genius.

**Chapter 20: Images of despair**

Images flittered in the darkness, snatches of memories intertwined with nightmares swirled through a haze of smoke that obscured the sharper details, but not enough.

Snatches of faces, eyes wide with fear. The sound of explosions, the rattle of gunfire, the smell of smoke. Body's littering the streets, screams, the face of a crying child...

Colonel Roy Mustang awoke with a start, his breathing harsh and the hand he raised to wipe the sweat from his brow trembled violently. Looking around, he found himself in what appeared to be an infirmary of some kind, and seeing the rather disturbing fact that the paintings along the walls seemed to be moving, he had a rather good idea of where he was.

He also wasn't the only one there. A soft whimper drew his attention and he found the bed next to his was occupied by none other then Ed.

The boy looked terrible, there didn't seem to be any outward injuries that he could see but the younger Alchemist seemed to be caught in the same fever like nightmares that he had just pulled out of.

"I see that you are finally awake." The soft voice came from a door towards the back of the room, well down the line of beds. A stout looking witch in a white apron and nurses cap strode over to him, her hands reaching into the pocket of her apron and drawing out something that she handed to him as soon as she came close, "Here, I want you to eat this. It's chocolate, it will help with the side effects."

Blinking up at her, Mustang did as she said, still a little foggy but the chocolate did seem to help as his mind started to clear.

"Alright, I need some information." He rasped as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He noticed absently that someone had changed him out of his uniform into a set of pale blue pajamas. _'Never mind, think about that later.'_ He coughed experimentally and the nurse handed him a glass of water which he accepted with a nod of thanks.

"First off, what the hell happened? I take it I am at Hogwarts, or at least somewhere like it. All I remember are some god awful looking creatures flying at Ed then being tossed into some memories I would rather forget."

"Poppy, perhaps I should be the one to explain things?" the larger door at the other end of the infirmary from which the nurse had come from stood open and Dumbledore strode in.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir." the nurse nodded her head respectfully then ruined the act when she scowled at him threateningly, "You can talk to him, but keep it short. He has only just awakened. And don't disturb the boy."

Mustang watched her stalk from the room and chuckled slightly, wincing as his head protested. "So, old man. Are you going to tell me why the hell I ended up in a hospital bed?" he turned his attention to the old wizard and raised an eyebrow. He was certainly in no mood for any mind games at the moment. He had just been subjected to some of the worst memories he had, now he wanted some answers.

Dumbledore studied him with grave expression of his face, a look he turned on Ed as well as the boy whimpered again, and shook his head before sitting on a chair that had been placed at the ends of their beds.

"The creatures you came up against are called dementors. Your young colleague should be able to tell you something of them, after all he would have come across them in his studies. Put simply, they feed on despair."

Mustang frowned slightly, looking from the kindly old wizards face to the tortured expression that strained his subordinates, "So what the hell did they do to us?"

Dumbledore sighed, casting another look at Ed, "Let me see if I can come up with an explanation that will make sense. The energy that they give off, or aura if you will, triggers within the brain negative impulses. Which in turn causes the worst memories one holds to surface. I have to say that the reaction to them that you two have had is once of the most violent I have seen." Shaking his head sorrowfully, his expression turned thoughtful, "Though I shouldn't be surprised, really. Most people who have come into contact with them that have had truly horrific pasts generally have already learned to protect themselves to an extent. I am certainly sorry that there was no way to shield you from the effects, more then that, I am sorry for young Mr Elric. He is certainly having a hard time as well. More then I would expect for one so young."

Mustang studied his young subordinate once again, a surge of pity rising in his chest at the horror on that suddenly very young face. "Some of us are cursed with memories better left buried." He said flatly, seeing Dumbledore's frown of concern, "Such is the life of one who would be chained to the military."

He lay back against his pillows, suddenly exhausted. As his eyes closed he saw the old wizard glancing back and forth between him and Edward, a look of deep sadness and sympathy on his face.

Completely unaware of the conversation that had taken place beside him, Ed struggled in a seemingly unending loop of painful memories. He saw his mother collapse again and again, her sweet face twisting into the horrifying image of the creature his failure had created. He saw again his brother disappearing before his eyes, felt again the searing pain of his leg slowly being eaten away, the agony as he offered his arm in desperation to save his brothers soul.

There were other flickers as well, the transformed Nina, her sorrowful eyes, the stern look on Hawkeye's face as she told him of her murder. Seeing his brother's metal body shattering over and over again under Scar's hand.

Somewhere deep beneath the nightmares, he knew what was happening. The effect of the Dementors had triggered a nightmare loop, one image playing off the next, ensnaring him within his own mind. But even though he was aware of it, there was nothing he could do to break free.

Snarling silently, he fought against the images then gasped as warmth spread through his mind. _"Do not be concerned, Mr Elric."_ The voice that filtered through to him was familiar, _"I have entered your mind in order to help pull you free of the loop. If you would just be patient for a moment, I will break the cycle."_

Ed relaxed, suddenly too tired to fight anymore. The voice faded, taking the horrifying images with it. He floated silently in a sea of white that slowly took on brighter colours and he found himself lying in the grass back home, a human Al by his side as they both gazed up into the endless blue of the sky.

"_How long did Madam Pomfry say he would sleep for? I thought your reaction was bad to those things, mate, but at least you weren't out of it for a week."_

Ed grimaced slightly in annoyance as Ron's voice filtered through his sleep fogged mind, what an earth was the idiot doing talking to someone so close to his bed.

"_Shush up, you idiot, you'll wake him up."_ Hermione's voice hissed and Ed nearly groaned, she was making more noise then Ron was. Opening his eyes, he leveled a glare at them but blinked when he caught the dark eyes of someone who was in the process of pushing himself up on a bed a few meters away, "Colonel Mustang, Sir?" he stammered in confusion, the other voices around him falling silent.

The Colonel grimaced slightly, his eyes going to the three people Ed could sense sitting behind him, "Fullmetal. I see you have finally decided to rejoin the conscious. Mind telling me who your noisy companions are?"

Ed tried to push himself up and put a hand to his forehead as the room spun. Shaking off the feeling, he waved behind him without looking, "The one with the glasses is Harry Potter, the girl is Hermione Granger and the red head is Ron Weasley." Glancing over at them he added another name, "Oh, and that is Neville Longbottom." Finally pushing himself up he looked at all the concerned faces around him and frowned, "What the hell is up with everyone?"

The Colonel cleared his throat and Ed turned to find his trademark smirk in place, "I don't know Ed, Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you have been unconscious for a week and a half?"

"Huh? What the hell happened?" Mustangs face darkened but it was Harry that answered, hie voice rough with sympathy, "Dementors."

That one word was enough and Ed felt a cold shiver run down his spine as the memory of what occurred flickered through his mind before he shoved it back. He saw the same horror reflected in the Colonels eyes.

"Hey, Ed? Mind telling us who this is?" Hermione asked finally and Ed rolled his eyes, trying to cover his discomfort with mock annoyance.

"Everyone, this is Colonel Roy Mustang. Known throughout the military as the Flame Alchemist. He is an annoying,"

_Twitch _"Hey."

"Egotistical,"

_Twitch, twitch _"Hey."

"Maniacal,"

"Oi,"

_Smirk _"Jerk."

"Oi Shrimp, watch how you talk about your superior."

Ed all but fell off his bed with laughter at the annoyance on the man's face. His black hair was scruffy from sleep and he was dressed in a set of pyjamas, the same as the ones Ed was wearing. That coupled with his expression was too much when held up against his usual polished, arrogant self.

"Damn sir, it's not at all like you to let me get the upper hand for once. What's wrong? Did sleeping for a week dull your senses?" he grinned in anticipation as he saw the flash of enjoyment behind Mustang's apparent irritation.

"Who said you had the upper hand, Edward. I just thought it would be a good way to get your mind going. After all, being as small as you are, you need to have something to raise your spirits in the morning. How depressing it must be to always be looking at someone's kneecaps."

"You should talk, Colonel Sarcasm. If it wasn't for the fact that Hawkeye usually stands over you threatening to turn you into Swiss cheese, you would eventually be lost in that mountain of paperwork that seems to accumulate on you desk. I don't know about you, but I think that since they transferred you to Eastern HQ, they could have at least made sure all of the 'situations' there had been cleared up first, or at least left information of what was going on."

"Considering the fact that since my transfer, a lot of those 'situations' you mentioned happened to have been handled by you and your brother, I would think that it would have been better if they had been left well enough alone."

Ed was starting to thoroughly enjoy their 'discussion' he needed to get his mind off other memories, badly, and engaging in an argument with his superior seemed to be the best solution at hand.

"Not that again sir, you know for a fact none of that was my fault."

Mustangs smirk grew and he raised an eyebrow, looking more like his old self if you overlooked his attire, "So it wasn't you who over threw that prophet?'

"Ah,"

"Or collapsed that mansion, in that red water incident?"

"Hey, that was an accident."

"How about…"

"Alright, alright. Jeez, talk about keeping score. What do you do, keep a record in your head about all of my screw ups?"

Mustang just chuckled, swinging his legs off the bed, "I don't know about you, Fullmetal, but I'm hungry. Do you have any idea what they did with my uniform?"

"Uh, Colonel, Sir?" both of them turned at Hermione's hesitant voice. She smiled rather nervously and pointed to the cabinet between the two hospital beds, "Professor Dumbledore told me that there were clothes in there that you could wear while you were here. He suggested that you would perhaps want to keep a low profile while within the school grounds."

Ed turned back and watched curiously as Mustang opened the small cupboard. The Colonels face went blank and his eye twitched as he lifted out he clothes inside. One set was his own uniform, neatly pressed and folded. The other was a rather ominous pile of neat black cloth and Ed sniggered as he suddenly realized what the principal meant by keeping a low profile. Mustang shook out the garment and Ed laughed outright and the smirk of disgust on his superiors face as the folds of cloth revealed themselves to be a set of black robes much the same as the teachers wore.

"Well, sir. At least you won't stand out." Ed laughed, he cut himself off as he found Mustangs fingers set under his nose but laughed again at the frustration on the others face as he noticed that he wasn't wearing his gloves.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville left as the two Alchemists dressed in their robes behind the screens Madam Pomphry erected for them, Mustang muttering the whole time over stupid wizards and their idiotic, screwed up sense of fashion.

As they came around from behind the screens, Ed chuckled at the look on Mustangs face.

"Don't laugh, midget. Look at me, I look like a jackass."

Ed laughed even harder, his own robes open to reveal the Griffindor colours on the uniform he wore beneath, "Now, now sir. Don't say that. Just be thankful that Hughes isn't here with his camera."

For a moment a flicker of sadness crossed Mustang's face but it was gone before Ed really registered it, replaced by a twitching look of suspicion, "If you so much as breath a word of this when we get home, Fullmetal, I will make sure to make your life a living hell."

Ed snickered, "Whatever Colonel. Come on, lets go down to the great hall. I'm sure they won't mind feeding one extra for lunch."

As they left the hospital wing Harry caught up with them. "The others had a few things to take care of before lunch." He answered Ed's inquiring look, "There is something that I wanted to talk to you about however." Ed noticed Harry looking between him and Mustang and he shook his head, "Whatever it is Harry, you may as well tell the Colonel as well, because I report directly to him."

Harry nodded, his expression tense, "You know that I have suspected Malfoy was up to something all year?"

Ed nodded thoughtfully, come to think of it, the little slime ball had been rather scarce as of late, "Well, I overheard something the other night coming back from one of Slughorn's little parties. Something that I think you should know about."

…

AN/ Another one down, Christmas on the way, heh, I wonder if I can manage to post that chapter as a Christmas update. We'll see how things go. Anyway, Mustang is finally in the school, meaning the Harry gang gets to interrogate him as well, Ed will have some interesting things to explain over his automail incident in Snapes classroom and Riza has to catch up with the Colonel for leaving her behind. All before Christmas break. Ha, this is going to be fun.

Oh and I see there are at least two people who recognize the names of my owls, heh heh. Yes I admit it, big, big, big Misty fan. And who better to borrow owl names from?

See ya.


	21. Ch 21: Hints of Betrayal

AN/ Here we go, 21 finally up. Sorry about the wait. At least I am keeping to one chapter a week at the most though. Anyway, hope this one is alright. I have one killer of a headache so I can't bring myself to read through it again at the moment, I'll have to check it later. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: nope, still not mine

**Chapter 21: Hints of Betrayal**

After glancing at the few students they were passing in the halls, Harry cast a notice me not spell on the three of them and reported to them the conversation he had overheard.

"So there you have it. I don't know what he is planning exactly, but it looks as though Snape has some idea of what is going on. It has to be serious for him to be acting the way he was, making the unbreakable vow in order to protect Malfoy and everything."

Ed frowned in thought as he went over everything he had just heard, something definitely was off here. From what he had read, the unbreakable vow was a serious thing, for Snape to do such a thing, it would seriously place his loyalties in a knot. The ex Death Eater come spy was walking a tricky path and for the life of him he couldn't work out why.

"Tell me, Fullmetal. This Snape character, is he the teacher you put in your report? The one that you said needed to be watched?" Ed glanced over to see a serious look on his superiors face. "Yes sir. There is something here that doesn't add up, I just can't work out what. From what Harry has said, Snape was one of the enemy but now works as a spy for the Headmaster, gathering information from the other side as well as passing on false information to the enemy. That conversation certainly sheds doubt on his loyalty, but there must be something that the headmaster has on him for the old man to trust him so thoroughly. From what I have found out, Dumbledore will defend Snape adamantly when needed and has done so in the past, even to the point of keeping the man out of prison. I don't know, there is something I am overlooking, I can feel it."

He saw Mustang nod out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to see the older Alchemist cast a thoughtful look Harry's way.

"Anything you here, you are to keep to yourself, do you understand?" Harry looked surprised at the Colonels request but he nodded his head anyway. And Ed raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"There is something in the woodworks at the moment." He told them seriously, "The ministry is in a mess because they can't get any concrete information but the arrival of Envy has certainly thrown them for a loop. Not only that, but they have heard about the cursed necklace that you reported and even though they have investigated thoroughly, they still cannot figure out who sent it. I want you to look into this Malfoy business, Fullmetal. Investigate as much as you can about the boys activities. Keep an eye on this Snape as well, see if you can get some information out of them."

Harry snorted softly and Ed threw him a scowl to tell him to keep quiet but Mustang caught it, his eyes flattened slightly and Ed sighed, knowing what was coming.

"Fullmetal, what have you done now?"

Knowing it was pointless to make excuses, he sighed and informed his superior about the incident in Snape's classroom. "So you see, sir, getting information out of Snape is going to be interesting. I'm going to have to watch him closely now because I don't know how he is going to react to being threatened."

Mustang slapped at his forehead, "Really Ed, I would think that you would have learnt some restraint. I mean attacking a teacher, not really a good academic move there."

Ed merely snorted, "Yeah right sir. I seem to recall actually reading about some of your temper tantrums since we got here. At least my little explosion didn't end up in a magazine."

Harry interrupted before they could indulge in one of their arguments by clearing his throat. Ed blinked at him, noticing the other boy looking at his right arm, a thoughtful look on his face, "There was something I wanted to ask you about." He said hesitantly. At Ed's nod he continued. "When you went at Snape at the end of the lesson, you transmuted your arm into a blade, but as far as I saw, you didn't use a circle to do it."

Ed groaned, slapping at his own head, he should have known that little stunt wouldn't have gone unnoticed, "Lets just say that it is a symptom of failure." He muttered.

Harry blinked but shook his head, seeming to understand that it was something he shouldn't ask about, "You are going to have to come up with some explanation though, about the arm and the no circle thing. There were a lot of rumours flying around while you were unconscious so you are going to be bombarded with questions once you show your face again."

Ed groaned loudly, great that was all he needed. Mustang just chuckled, "Serves you right, Edward. Maybe next time you will learn to hold your temper."

Ed snorted, ignoring the man for the rest of the walk down to the great hall.

There were a few days left until the Christmas holidays started and Ed gazed rather distractedly at the decorations that were being hung throughout the corridors. He hadn't really celebrated Christmas in a long while. The last few years he and Al had been on the road and hadn't really remembered at all, sad really when he recalled some of the Christmas days they had spent with their mother.

He shivered when the pleasant memories in his mind twisted into less savoury ones and he snapped a lid on them. It looked like not all of the symptoms of his brush with the Dementors had left him yet.

Mustang must have noticed something because he rested a hand lightly on his shoulder, "Is there a problem Fullmetal?"

Ed sighed, not even bothering to show surprise at the Colonels concern, "Just bad memories, sir."

Mustang nodded, a look of understanding on his face. He reached into his robes and handed something to the younger alchemist, "Dumbledore mentioned that there might still be some lingering side effects. He said that this would help. I know you hate the stuff but eat it anyway. From what he said, the sugar and caffeine will help. After he pulled you out of the memory loop, he said that the normal treatments should work."

Ed looked at what the Colonel had handed to him and he shuddered in disgust. Chocolate, bi-product of that evil substance known as milk. "Arrg, you have got to be kidding me." He gagged.

Mustang smirked at him, amusement in his eyes and Ed glared back. If he was messing with him again, he swore the man would pay. "Now, now, Fullmetal. It is standard treatment, ask Mr Potter if you don't believe me."

Ed glanced at the other boy and Harry nodded, "Afraid so Ed. Although you are the first person I have met to object to it. I mean, chocolate is definitely the best medicine I have ever had to take."

Ed just shuddered, "Oh hell no. Disgusting stuff." Eyeing the piece in his hand, he contemplated the pounding that had started up in his head again and sighed. Taking a deep breath he shoved into his mouth, swallowing as fast as possible without chocking himself. He gagged and shook his head, muttering curses under his breath as Mustang laughed at him. _'Damn that's nasty. Seems to be working though.'_ He gave another shudder but sighed in relief as the pain started to subside.

By this time they had reached the great hall, so it was with some trepidation that he slipped in with the Colonel and Harry at his heals.

A few heads turned in their direction as they entered and Ed glowered when he saw the speculative looks on many of their faces. Ignoring everyone, he made his way over to the Griffindore table, noticing as he did so that Ron and Hermione were not sitting next to each other again, looked as though they were arguing again.

Slipping into an empty space, Ed grunted as Mustang took a seat on his left, Harry to his right. At least this way he wasn't going to be swamped from his table mates.

The other Griffindores seemed not to know how to act with an adult sitting at their table so Ed was able to get some food into his protesting stomach before anyone built up the courage to start asking questions.

The first one came from Ron, which was hardly surprising. "So Ed, where the heck have you been?"

Ed looked up, his mouth full of bread and caught sight of the fact that nearly every one seemed to be straining to hear his answer. He flicked a glance at Mustang but his fellow alchemist just pretended to ignore everything that was going on around him.

Swallowing his mouthful, Ed grimaced at his plate, well he had to give them some sort of explanation.

"I'd gone to see Mr Mustang here," he waved absently at the Colonel, "But we got caught in that attack up north. The two of us have been in the hospital wing for the past two weeks."

Ron's question opened the flood gate it seemed, for no sooner had he answered another one as thrown his way.

"Who is Mr Mustang, is he a teacher?"

Ed screwed up his face before answering, this one was going to leave a sour aftertaste, "No, he is the principal of my school. The one who put me in for the transfer here."

He nearly choked on having to call Mustang that, but he had already used that lie once before and as he had noted the last time, most of it was even the truth.

"Is he an Alchemist too?"

"Is it true that you managed to throw Snape's spells back into his face?"

"Where did you learn to counter magic with Alchemy?"

"Is it true you nearly decapitated the teacher?"

"How did you manage to turn your arm into a sword? I didn't see you use a circle."

"What is with your arm? I saw it after you changed it back and your hand is made of metal."

"Does the whole metal arm thing have anything to do with the nickname that Peeves called you a few months ago?"

Ed started to get really impatient with all of the questions. His eye started to twitch and he could see the Colonel casting a concerned look in his direction as he caught the growling sound coming from his subordinate.

Finally he'd had enough. Slamming his hands on the table he jumped to his feet, "WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT THE HELL UP? Damn, I just woke up an hour ago, I have a pounding headache and all you people want to do is gossip. To answer your questions; Yes, Mustang is an Alchemist, if you want more information you can ask him," he noticed with a flash of amusement under his irritation that a few of the students glanced Mustangs way but looked away uneasily when they caught his dark eyes. "Yes I did manage to counter Snape's spells, I figured out how to do it on my own, after all, that is why I am here. No, I wouldn't have cut his head off, no matter how much I might have wanted to. As to the arm, I lost it in an accident when I was younger, my leg to if you are curious. And yes the nickname comes from that. The reason I can transform the metal of my arm is because there is a circle engraved into the metal, inside the arm itself. Makes things a lot easier if I don't have a pre-prepared one on me or don't have the time to draw one."

It was an out and out lie, of course, but he wasn't going to tell them anything else, they already knew too much as far as he was concerned. He did however throw a look up at the teachers table as he said this, catching Snape's eye. The men returned his look his a slightly raised eyebrow, no doubt remembering Ed's hissed comment about circles not being necessary.

"Now, if you all don't mind, I would like to finish my lunch seeing as I haven't eaten anything in over a week."

With that, he sat back down abruptly and applied himself single-mindedly to his food, ignoring everyone around him. Although he did catch the soft, amused chuckle coming from his left.

The students left Ed alone for the rest of the meal, for which he was eternally grateful.

Eventually students started to head off for their dormitories. Classes had ended and most of them were getting ready to head home for the holidays.

Ed stayed seated, giving Harry a nod as the other boy told him he would see him later.

Resting his chin on his arms, he tapped at the table with his fingers, wondering what his brother was up to. The resurfacing of some of the harshest moments of his life had reminded him unerringly of one glaring fact. Through it all, his brother had always been by his side. Now that he was in a situation that he was constantly confused he found it oddly wrong not to have that familiar presence at his back, ready to catch him should he stumble.

He was broken from his musings by a neutral voice, "So, Edward. What were you planning on doing over the holidays?"

He turned to catch Mustang's eye and sighed, "Nothing, really sir. I thought I would try to find out if I could meet with some more of the Order personnel that Dumbledore mentioned, now that I don't have to worry about classes and all. What about you?"

Normally he wouldn't really have cared but his thoughts lately had made him more then a little homesick so talking to the Colonel gave him a sense of normalcy, even if they weren't arguing for a change.

Mustang shrugged, fidgeting with the collar of his robes, "Working I suppose. I don't really celebrate Christmas anyway, not for a long time. Maybe I can get Hawkeye to leave off on the paperwork for a little while. The piles she brought with her is taking me forever to get through on top of investigating the whole mess that we have gotten into here as well."

They both looked up as they sensed someone approaching and the two of them nodded greeting as Dumbledore came up to them.

Ed though the man looked a little haggard and he held himself back from sighing. Looked as though there were a few people who were having a rough time of things lately.

"Mr Mustang, Mr Elric. I was wondering if the two of you would mind coming with me to my office. I would like to talk to the two of you."

Exchanging a glance with the Colonel, Ed followed the other's lead and rose to his feet.

The two of them followed the principal silently, both of them still a little worn out from their ordeal.

Although there was one moment of excitement when one of the school ghosts floated between them as they headed down the hall that led to the headmasters office. Ed had become used to them by now, but he had completely forgotten about what Havoc and Fury had told him concerning the Colonel's views on ghosts.

He had absently stepped aside for the spirit, knowing for a fact it was rather unpleasant for the things to float through you when a strangled yell cut him short.

Turning, he found Mustang staring at it in horror, his face a study in disbelief, "Colonel sir, is there something the matter?" he asked sweetly as he suddenly recalled Fury's story about the whole warehouse thirteen incident.

Mustang cast a glare his way, his face twisted into a grimace, his eye twitching, "Fullmetal, what precisely was that?" he asked calmly and Ed started to snicker,

"Never seen a ghost before Colonel?" he asked in amusement.

Mustang glared at him, "There is no such things as ghosts, Edward."

Ed raised an eyebrow and pointed to where the transparent figure could still be seen just as it passed though one of the walls, "Really sir, then what would you call that?"

He refused to answer, instead giving a snort of annoyance and walking past him after Dumbledore. Ed chuckled to himself and followed.

The headmaster gave a password to crouching gargoyle further on and they followed him up the stairs that the statue uncovered. Neither of them were quiet prepared for what awaited them in the headmasters office however.

As soon as the old man cleared the door there was a sharp detonation and Ed dove for cover. Mustang merely continued into the room.

Ed picked himself up off the floor and scrambled out of the way as a few more shots were fired and he stared a the Colonel in surprise. He had gone all jittery over a stupid ghost and yet here he was calmly standing as someone took pot shots at his head.

Glancing around frantically he caught sight of their attacker and he relaxed instantly at sight of precisely placed blond hair and neatly pressed blue uniform.

No wonder the Colonel didn't move, he was well used to being shot at by Hawkeye, and he knew for a fact that she wouldn't actually hit him, she was too good a shot for that.

"Lieutenant, how wonderful to see you. Would you mind not putting any more chips in the walls? I am sure that Professor Dumbledore would rather you didn't put hole in his office like the ones mine sports back home."

"Gladly sir, as soon as you explain to me where the hell you have been for the past two weeks? All I was told was that you had been hospitalised for some reason and that you were unreachable."

Mustang sighed and Ed inched his way around to one of the chairs that had been placed there for them. He noticed that Dumbledore had taken a seat as well and was watching the two military personnel with amusement.

After Mustang explained what had happened and shaken off the glare he had received, the three of them took seats in front of the headmasters desk.

The old wizard eyed all of them for a moment, then turned his attention to Ed. "I wanted to talk to you and the Colonel for a specific reason. I have some information to pass onto the two of you and I also have a suggestion to make as of what you can do over the holidays, Mr Elric."

………………………..

AN/ So there we go, next chapter covers Christmas, well at least it should anyway. So, again, thankyou for reading, and big thankyou to all you reviewers.

I think I'll try to sleep now, arrg, stupid neck pain.

See ya


	22. Ch 22: Letters from Home

AN/ Here we are, finally. Sorry it took so long, I wasn't sure how to work this part of the story. Need to ease into things over Christmas but make it interesting as well. Ok, a little short this one, and not much is happening _yet_. So on with chapter 22. And I hope every one had a great Christmas.

Disclaimer: nope, not mine.

**Chapter 22: Letters from Home**

The morning the train left to take those home who were not staying for the holidays dawned cold and clear. Ed and the others headed down to the great hall for breakfast quietly, and Ed could tell that Harry was still brooding over what he had overheard earlier. By the oblivious look on Ron's face, Ed assumed that he hadn't been told yet, which was, in a way, a blessing. They really didn't need to be discussing that particular situation at the breakfast table.

Yawning widely, Ed slung an arm over the shoulders of his two friends and steered them all over to the Griffindor table, Hermione bringing up the rear.

As they took a seat, Harry seemed to shake off his thoughts and he turned to Ed who was in the process of spooning eggs onto his plate.

"Hey Ed, where's the Colonel? I thought he would be hanging around for a little longer."

Ed shook his head, casting a glance up at the head table where some of the teachers were seated, he sat forward slightly and kept his voice down. "No, the Colonel returned to the ministry for now. There are a few things that I want to talk to you about later in regards to your position in relation to one of my _duties_." When he stressed the last word all three of the gang threw him alert looks and he nodded his head once, "There are a few things going on that you will need to know."

Harry nodded in understanding, his face serious and Ron cleared his throat nervously. In an obvious attempt to change the subject, the red head turned to his breakfast and asked, rather casually, "So what are you doing for Christmas mate? Harry's spending it at the Burrow with my family and Hermione is heading home."

Ed smirked, he hadn't told them yet of his orders regarding the holidays, and he wasn't planning on it, not just yet anyway, "Oh, I have been given my orders on that as well." He answered vaguely.

He was interrupted by the arrival of the postal owls and he smiled in joy as he saw both of his owls swooping down to him. He had sent Kauri off a few days ago with a long letter to his brother, letting him know_ everything_ that had been going on. It was with rather eager fingers that he took the return letter from the huge owls leg, giving the bird a piece of fruit in thanks. He didn't get a chance to even look at the envelope before Hweel joined her nest mate on the table in front of him and held out her dainty leg, a letter strapped to her as well. Thanking her politely, he handed her some fruit as well and as both owls launched themselves from the table he turned to the mail they had delivered.

"Letters from home?" Harry asked him curiously and Ed threw a grin at him.

"One of them. The other is from the Colonel." Thinking it over, he decided he should leave his brothers letter until last seeing as though Mustang might have something important to tell him, considering the situation at the moment.

Slitting open the envelope, he read the letter grimly then sighed in relief before grinning in anticipation.

_Fullmetal,_

_As you know your assessment for your state licence is coming up. While I believe your research into the practical application of Alchemy against magic will be of great value this year towards your test, I think that we should supply a practical report of your skills as well._

_Expect to see me during the holidays, I wish to see a demonstration of your new knowledge, so you had better find someone who is willing to throw spells at you who will not get expelled for it. As well as that, I think that a battle assessment would be beneficial as well, so prepare yourself to be barbequed._

_Col. Mustang_

'_heh, Battle assessment. This is going to be fun. This time round, the bastard isn't going to get the best of me.'_ He chuckled to himself and folded the letter. Catching Harry's inquiring look he grinned, "My assessment is coming up. Should be an interesting test this year."

He laughed as Ron threw him an incredulous look for calling _any_ test interesting, then the red head held up the letter in his hand that had been delivered to him, "Hey Ed, is this true? You're spending Christmas with us?"

Ed snickered, "Well, I wouldn't be much of a guard if my charge were to just leave for a few weeks without me, now would I?"

After they had finished eating, the four of them headed up to collect their belongings and joined the rest of the students heading down to train. Ed wasn't at all sure where they would be heading but the others reassured him that everything was fine. Mr and Mrs Weasley were to collect them from the train station and they would be heading back from there.

The train ride was uneventful, something that according to Ron was unusual, "I don't know what is up with Malfoy lately, but I haven't seen him around much."

Ed threw a look Harry's way and the other boy shook his head grimly. "Never mind, Ron. I am sure he will be back to hassle us as soon as he gets whatever stick is up his nose this time loose." Ron snorted and Ed chuckled at the mental image that came to mind with _that_ statement.

Sitting back on the seat, Ed reached into his red jacket and drew out the thick envelope he had received that morning. Slitting the seal, he settled down to read his letter.

_Brother,_

_It was good to get your letter, it has been so long since I heard from you. Your owl is very pretty too, I hope you are bringing him home with you when you return. It sounds as though things are getting interesting where you are and the theories you have come up with sound promising. With you able to combine alchemic theory and magic theory, do you really think that you can come up with a new solution? I really hope so._

_Your new friends sound very interesting, I wish I could meet them. It has been rather boring here, especially since you and the Colonel are away. To begin with the others thought it was great to not have Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye here but they are starting to mope now. I think Havoc, Fuery, Breda and Fulman really do miss them, they don't seem to know what to do with themselves. Even Major Armstrong is acting odd. _

_Speaking of which, would you ask the Colonel something for me? I was looking for Mr Hughes the other day, but no one would tell me where he was. They just looked real uncomfortable and said to talk to the Colonel about it. Something weird is going on._

_Anyway, things have been quiet here, and seeing as though the Homunculi have shown up where you are, I am hardly surprised. But there are a few things that are going on that I don't really understand. Chesqua and Winry told me that other day that they overhead a really weird conversation coming from the Fuehrer's office. It was from that woman, you know, the one who looks like _her

_I don't like it, I really hope you are coming home soon. Be careful, if Envy is there, we could have more problems then we thought. I will keep an eye on things here, and don't worry, I will be careful. Winry says to tell you hi and to says that you had better be taking care of that automail otherwise you are dead. She said to go over it with the kit she gave you once you get time._

_Well, be careful and come home in one piece. Remember, we are all we have, so take care of yourself._

_Your little brother_

_Alphonse._

Ed folded the letter with a sigh and a slight frown. It looked as though things were tense on both ends. At that business with Hughes, he would have to take it up with the Colonel when he saw him next. In the mean time, he would definitely be looking into Envy's presence here. If it had any link to the disturbance back home, he wanted to know about it. He may not be there at his brothers side, but he would make sure he would do everything he could to keep him safe.

When they all disembarked at the train station, Hermione bid them a Merry Christmas and headed over to a couple whom Ed assumed were her parents. Ron was looking around as well and soon turned to them and jerked his head to the left, "Come on, they're over there."

Following behind him, it wasn't hard to see who they were heading towards once they were clear of the other students. Ed shook his head in amusement at the gathering that was waiting for them.

There was a short, rather stout woman with a cheerful face, a taller man with glasses and two tall young men who were mirror images of one another. All of them had Ron's and Ginny's bright red hair.

Ed hung back with Harry and he saw the rather wistful look on the other boys face as he watched the family greet one another. Seeming to sense his attention Harry smiled, "You should see it when the whole family is there. They look like a forest on fire."

Ed chuckled and shook his head, "How many of them are there anyway? I remember Ron mentioning he had rather a lot of brothers."

Harry laughed, "You have no idea. It was rather shocking when I stayed with them fourth year and the whole lot of them were home. I'm not used to big families. There are six boys and Ginny, as well as Mr and Mrs Weasley, that is nine family members."

Ed whistled, impressed. That was one hell of a family. He smiled wistfully himself, "I know what you mean, I'm not used to big families either. It has been just me and Al for so long now."

Harry reached out and gripped his shoulder right before he was swept up into a greeting hug by Mrs Weasley. Mr Weasley on the other hand turned to Ed.

"I take it you are Mr Elric." He said gravely, holding out a hand. Ed took it and nodded politely, a gesture the older man returned, "Dumbledore has told me who and what you are. He also said you would be wanting to talk to me later as well."

Ed grinned at him, "And Ron has told me that you would want to question me as well, seeing as I am a muggle and all but from a culture very different from the one here."

Mr Weasley's face brightened and interest sparked in his eyes, "I think that we may have some interesting conversations after all, Mr Elric. Please, call me Arthur."

Ed laughed, "Only if you call me Ed."

He was then introduced to Mrs Weasley, who immediately exclaimed over how small he was, promising that she would feed him up before he left her hands, and the twins who shared identical wicked grins as they took his hands to shake them,

"We have heard a lot about you, Edward."

"Yes and all of it interesting."

"This Christmas is going to be informative."

"Yes very informative."

Ed found their habit of echoing each others thoughts a little disconcerting but the gleam in their eyes had him liking them instantly and from some of the stories he had heard about these two, they were going to get along very well indeed.

Thinking of his upcoming assessment, an evil grin spread across his face, catching the attention of both twins,

"Oh ho. Something has occurred to our guest my brother."

"Something that looks like could be fun. Tell us, Mr Elric, is there something we can do for you?"

Ed's grin widened, "You and I will need to talk later. I have a feeling that some of your expertise could come in handy." _'Look out Colonel, this time round it might be your tail that gets barbequed.'_

………………………

AN/ Heh heh, look out Mustang, Ed is teaming up with the terrible twins. Sorry this one is so short, the next one should make up for it and it isn't going to be such a long wait this time.

I have worked out what I am going to do with the ending for this as well. As I mentioned, I haven't seen from eps 39 onwards, and looks as though I'm not any time soon. (Takes so long for them to release them here) So I am planning to write the ending to both series _my_ way in the sequel, so any information that comes through from Al from now on, most of it will be completely made up or it will be pieced together from information I have picked up from other stories that didn't post spoiler warnings.

Hope everyone still enjoys and look out for the next one, it should be up within a day or so. Thank you for all the reviews, if you have questions, don't be afraid to ask. So many new reviews, hello to any new readers.

See ya.


	23. Ch 23: Christmas with the Order

AN/ Hey everyone, Happy New Year to all. Here is the next one, hope you enjoy. Enter Lupin into the picture and some more information for Ed. As well as some more plotting of the possible trouncing of Mustang. But I'm not giving anything away yet, that would spoil the fun. Anyway, I'll let you read.

Disclaimer: yeah……..

**Chapter 23: Christmas with the Order**

Ed had come to the conclusion that the Weasleys represented everything that he had come to associate with the bizarre world he had found himself in. The Burrow turned out to be an interesting structure made up of miscellaneous rooms tacked together into a structure that in the normal world shouldn't stand let alone be liveable. But stand it did, and live in it they did.

Sitting in the kitchen while Harry and Ron stood at the sink peeling vegetables, Ed took in the homely air of the place and let himself relax for the first time in months.

"So Snape was offering to help him? He was definitely _offering to_ _help him_." Ron was raving. Ed sighed and rolled his eyes seeing the annoyance spreading across Harry's face as well.

"Yes Ron, Snape was offering to help him, he said he'd promised Malfoy's mother to protect him, that he'd made an unbreakable oath or something."

"An Unbreakable Vow?" Ron asked, looking stunned, "Nuh, he couldn't have….. are you sure?"

Harry shook his head, "Yes, I'm sure. Why, what does it mean?"

"Well, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow…"

"I'd worked that out myself, funnily enough." Ed snorted at Harry's comeback, keeping out of the conversation, contenting himself to sit back for now.

"So what happens if you break it?"

"You die." Ron answered simply, "Fred and George tried to get to make one when I was about five. I nearly did too, I was holding hands with Fred and everything when Dad found us. He went mental." A reminiscing gleam came to Ron's eyes and Ed laughed along with Harry , "Only time I ever saw Dad as angry as Mum. Fred recons his left buttock has never been the same since."

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, well passing over Fred's left buttock -."

"I beg your pardon?" Fred's voice said as the twins entered the kitchen.

As the twins began to berate Ron over his association with Lavender Brown, the girl that all the arguments with Hermione had been over if Ed recalled right, Harry turned to him.

"So, what did the Colonel have to say the other morning?"

Ed sat back in his chair and pulled out the letter from his pocket, "Not much, really. Just that my State license assessment is soon, so he'll be around sometime in the next few weeks. That reminds me, hey you two." He raised his voice slightly, catching the attention of the twins, "I've got a favour or two to ask." An evil grin spread across his face and both twins came to sit across from him.

"Do tell, Ed."

"Yes do tell. What is it that we can do for you?"

"Well, the thing is, the Colonel is going to be testing me when he gets here. What I need to do is give him a preview of some of the things I managed to come up with."

Fred grinned wolfishly, "So we get to see some of the moves you used against old Snape, do we?"

George chuckled, "Brilliant."

"Alright, what I want the two of you to do is to throw curses at me so I can counter them. I thought we could give it some practice before the Colonel gets here. There is also a few other things I want to discuss with you, of a more interesting nature."

The faces before him became crafty and an expression of amusement spread across Harry's as he listened in. Ron came to join them at the table as well and soon the four of them were discussing ways that Ed could get an upper hand in his upcoming assessment.

They were interrupted by Mrs Weasley who came in to discuss room assignments with all of them.

"Fred, George, I'm sorry, but Remus will be arriving this afternoon so Bill will have to squeeze in with you two."

George waved a hand at her, "No problem Mum."

"Then if Fleur squeezes in with Ginny…"

"That'll make Ginny's Christmas…" muttered Fred.

"That just leaves Harry, Ed and Ron in the attic, seeing as Charlie isn't coming home. Everyone should be comfortable. Well, they'll have a bed anyway." Mrs Weasley finished, sounding rather harassed.

"Percy definitely not showing his ugly face then?" Fred asked.

Mrs Weasley turned away before she answered, "He's busy, I expect, at the ministry."

"Or he's the world's biggest Prat." Muttered Fred as his mother left the kitchen, "One of the two. Well, lets be going George."

The two of them stood up and George grinned down at Ed, "Let us know when you're ready to start practicing."

Ron glared sourly at them, "Where are you two off to anyway?"

"None of your business, little Ronniekins." Fred teased.

"Gits." Ron muttered as the two of them left. His face grew thoughtful and he turned his attention back to Harry, "Are you going to tell Dumbledore about what you overhead Snape and Malfoy discussing?" he asked seriously.

Harry nodded, "Yep, I'm going to tell anyone who has the chance of intervening and Dumbledore is at the top of that list. I might have another talk to your Dad as well."

Ed nodded and tapped at the table, "I'll look into the matter as well. There isn't much we can do at the moment, as they didn't give anything away of what was going on. From what you said, Malfoy was being real careful not to tell Snape what he was up to."

Harry looked rather depressed at that comment so Ed decided to change the subject, "So Ron, what is all this about your brother Percy? Seems as though everyone is pretty steamed at him."

Ron snorted and Harry glowered at the table, "Percy is a prat." Ron growled, "He started working for the ministry after he left school and was all high and mighty about it. When all that crud came out about Harry telling lies about you-know-who," Ed rolled his eyes along with Harry at Ron's persistence in not mentioning Voldemorts name, "He believed it all. Told us we were all making a mistake following Dumbledore and that there was no way that anything that Harry had been saying was true. He even told Dad he was an idiot for believing in all the rumours Dumbledore was spreading about Harry seeing You-know-who come back to life."

Harry growled at this point and Ed blinked at the look of mingled anger and horror on the other boy's face, "Like I would make something like that up." He hissed.

Ron just nodded, "Yeah, anyway, after last year, there was no way anyone could refute that Harry had been telling the truth. I mean, You-know-who actually attacked the ministry. Fudge himself even saw him. The stupid thing is, Percy has gotten even worse. He won't admit he was wrong and we haven't really seen him in the last six months." Ron scowled darkly, "Stupid git." He muttered.

Ed snorted, "Well, looks as though we have even more things to worry about. From what Dumbledore has told me, Percy is still working for the minister, but according to Mustang, this one is just as bad as that Fudge character. Where Fudge was completely incompetent, by the sound of things, and just refused to believe that everything was going to hell, the new one is just the opposite in a way. He is trying to cover everything up and make it look as though the ministry is handling things." Here Ed frowned, "reminds me of some of the military factions back home. Anyway, we were warned that information coming out of the ministry should be scoured very carefully as a lot of it is out and out utter rubbish."

Ron pulled a sour face and stood up to put his knife in the sink, while Harry pushed back his chair as well. "That is hardly surprising news. I mean look at that idiotic report in the Prophet, they arrested Stan Shunpike off the knight bus for being a Death Eater." Shaking his head Harry looked at the mound of sprouts he and Ron had pealed and shrugged, "I think that's enough, don't you Ron? We may as well go set your room up for three instead of two. I suspect that Ed will want to talk to Lupin and your Dad once they get here." He threw a glance Ed's way and the Alchemist grinned, knowing that Harry had guessed that part of his orders while he was there. He had told the other boy that he was talking to the other order members, after all.

Ron nodded in agreement and Ed followed as they led the way upstairs, after all, ministry matters were out of their hands as well at the moment, it was just good to have a heads up on another possible source of irritation.

Later that evening Ed was introduced to Remus Lupin and all in all he wasn't sure what to make of the man. He was rather worn looking and had a tired, haggard face but there was something about him that screamed at Ed that everything wasn't as it seemed.

The three of them, Lupin, Arthur and Ed, took a seat off to one side of the lounge room that evening and the others seemed to realise that they needed some space as they gave them wide berth as they spoke.

"So, you are the Alchemist that Dumbledore told us about." Lupin greeted him gravely, "I take it that you are somewhat aware of how things stand concerning the ministry at present."

Ed snorted, "Morons. Are far as the Colonel and I have been able to find out, the situation here is much too volatile for them to be concerning themselves over public opinion. That is why the Colonel was placed there to begin with, and why I have been asked to speak with all of you. Dumbledore feels that it is necessary for us to have as much information as is possible and I happen to agree. You can guarantee that I have no interest in trading sides in all this, not after some of the developments that I have come across." His voice became grim and Arthur frowned slightly.

"It looks as though you have some information for us as well." He stated and Ed nodded in agreement.

Lupin sat back in his chair and studied Ed carefully, seeming to make a decision, he gave a slight nod, "I wonder, Edward, how much about me do you know?"

Ed raised an eyebrow, not knowing where this was going, Lupin took that as a _not much_ and continued, "The information that I have gathered I managed to get by infiltrating Voldemorts ranks," Ed blinked in confusion and Lupin gave a rather uncomfortable smile, "Dumbledore needed a spy and here I was, ready made. The thing is Mr Elric, I am a werewolf."

Ed blinked again, not really knowing how to react, "Ah, a werewolf?" he asked, rather stupidly. That was certainly one revelation he hadn't been expecting.

Lupin chuckled and Ed threw him a questioning look, "I'm sorry Ed, but that is the first time I have seen that sort of response to that particular statement. Normally people scream and run."

Ed's mind stuttered a bit and then he shook his head hard, "Well, you did catch me by surprise with that one. But all in all, I think that panicking would be rather stupid. I mean, the Weasley's certainly don't seem to fear you at all and Harry views you as a friend, so I assume there is some reason why they are not concerned."

Arthur nodded gravely and cast an approving look Ed's way, "I think I see why Dumbledore trust you so much, you have a cool head on your shoulders." Ed nearly laughed aloud at that statement, he just hoped to hell the man didn't repeat it in front of the Colonel.

"Anyway," Lupin continued, "The fact is it looks a little grave at the moment. I managed to blend in with the other werewolves and it looks as though most of them have gone over to Voldemorts side. They seem to think they will have a better run of things with him in charge. The most disconcerting thing though, is the fact that they have Greybeck in their ranks." He shuddered slightly and Ed frowned.

"Who's Greybeck?"

Lupin sighed and rubbed at his forehead, "He's probably one of the most savage werewolves alive today," his voice was hollow as he continued, "He makes it his mission in life to infect as many people as possible, he wants to create enough werewolves to overthrow the wizards. Voldemort has promised him prey for his services. The worst thing is he specialises in children… bite them young, raise them away from their parents, raise them to hate normal wizards. Voldemort has threatened to unleash him on people's sons and daughters; it is a threat that usually produces good results."

Ed shuddered, "I can see why. Damn, that's more then a little alarming. Alright, since you have been in the camp, so to speak, I wonder if you can give me some information. A few weeks before the end of term, the village to the north of Hogsmede was attacked. The Aurors said that it was odd because they announced their target before hand but the Colonel and I found out why." His voice went grim, "There is a creature working with them who has, shall we say, a personal interest in my movements. The group he belongs to have caused me a lot of trouble in the past and I shudder to think what they are doing here. My main concern is wether he is the only one, or if the rest are here with him."

Arthur had frowned at his mention of the attack and he shook his head, "I think I remember someone mentioning something about that one. The ministry covered it up pretty fast though, considering it involved the Dementors. What is this creature that you are so worried about?"

Ed gritted his teeth and stared into the fire that they were sitting in front of, "It called a homunculus. I don't know how much about them you know, but let me tell you it is generally all bad. Their not human, creations that come about from failed experiments, but their one dive is to create a philosophers stone in order to become human." He looked up into the faces of the two wizards facing him and smiled bitterly at their uncomprehending expressions, "The philosophers stone I am talking about is very different then the one that your alchemists have come up with." He told them gravely, "The Alchemy you practice is a very different art. The stone that these monsters need is an amplifier for alchemic energy, it also is rumoured to allow you to bypass certain rules. The hitch is, the only way to make the thing is by using live humans as sacrifices. Large numbers of them."

Both wizards paled and Lupin shuddered, "If these creatures are working for Voldemort, then I think we have a problem." He stated.

Ed snorted, "You could say that. Not only will they have the blood they need to create the stone but I have feeling that they probably have a plan on creating it as well. They have been after me to make it for them for long enough but it might be possible for them to find an ulternative. Not only that but if they give Voldemort information about the Alchemists it is possible that he might try to find some to recruit for himself." He gave a rather sick grin, "After all, Dumbledore brought the Colonel and me here as a trump card seeing as though no one knows our kind of Alchemy. We are a power he wouldn't suspect. But if the freak brigade spill on us, we could have problems."

Lupin looked thoughtful, "This creature that you're talking about, would it happen to be a shapeshifter?"

Ed glanced at him sharply, "Oh yeah. That is Envy alright. Little freak shifts form to create havoc."

Lupin muttered to himself for a moment then shook his head, "I'm sorry, I'm not sure how much I can tell you. It doesn't look like he is a major part of things, at least not yet. I heard rumour of a shapeshifter that had come to Voldemort around five months ago, offered his services for an unspecified fee. I'd say if he had found out about you and this Colonel of yours though, then we would undoubtable know it by now. It is not like Voldemort to leave possible threats unchecked."  
Ed felt a little relieved at that but it still didn't tell him if the others were there or not.

That night, as the family sat around in the living room, Ed thought over the information he had been given. He needed to warn the Colonel about the werewolves and to let him know that he now had confirmation that Envy was working with the enemy even if they didn't know how involved he was.

The others were talking amongst themselves. Mrs Weasley was listening to some rather horrid music and a rather pretty girl, whom was introduced as Fleur, Bills girlfriend, was complaining rather snobbishly. Harry, on the other hand, was talking to Mr Weasley and Lupin, telling them about what he had overheard at school and also gathering information from the two adults about what was going on. As Lupin gave him roughly the same report he had given Ed, the Alchemist marvelled at the boys ability to get people to give him information.

After everyone had settled down for the night, Ed mulled over what he was doing here in the first place. He already had enough problems back home as it was and putting himself in the middle of a wizards war was not something he considered a bright idea. Bu then again, with the progress he had made on his research in to the possibility of finding a magical means of bypassing the need for the stone, then perhaps it was worth it. after all, he and Al had done some pretty crazy things already in search of answers. As he rolled over to try to get some sleep one thought penetrated his mind, _'I just hope to hell that this time I haven't gotten myself in too deep.'_

…………………

AN/ Heh heh, Mustang is arriving in the morning so things are going to get fun.

Thank you for your reviews and I'm trying to answer any questions that have been posted, if I have missed anyone, I'm sorry. I'm also writing another story, although I'm not sure how good it's going to end up, I am still ironing out some details.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed.

See ya.


	24. Ch 24: An Unwelcome Visit

AN/ Very, very big apology for the wait, this was a hard chapter to get out, for some reason. Oh well, here it is finally.

Disclaimer: …….

**Chapter 24: An Unwelcome Visit**

The next morning Ed awoke before dawn and without really shaking off the fog out of his mind he headed downstairs. There had been a horrid racket earlier from something in the ceiling and afterwards he had pretty much given up on more sleep.

Slipping into the kitchen he sat down at the table and stared distractedly out the window. The Colonel had told him that he would be around sometime while he was visiting with the Weasley family to conduct his Battle Assessment. Not only that but he had to have a report ready on his research to submit for his licence renewal. Thinking over the plans he'd made with the twins though had him snickering to himself, this was going to be fun.

After a while he heard movement upstairs and decided he may as well join the other two boys, after all, the Colonel hadn't said exactly when he was coming.

He walked in to find both Ron and Harry surrounded by torn wrapping paper, Ron with a rather aggrieved expression, Harry disgusted. Sitting between them on the floor was the cause of their troubles.

"Ah," Ed asked carefully, "Can I ask why there is a packet of maggots on the floor? I don't know about you, but that is more then a little gross."

Harry's sour expression deepened and Ron snickered, "Harry's House Elf sent it to him as a gift." He snorted again, obviously holding back laughter.

Ed raised an eyebrow, fighting down the sick feeling at the wriggling package and Harry threw an annoyed look at his best friend, "I would rather have them then that necklace of yours" he muttered and Ron sobered immediately, throwing a rather poisonous glance at a gold necklace lying not far from the maggots.

Ed slipped onto his own bed and eyed the thing curiously then snorted himself as he made out the words, "_My Sweetheart?_" he asked incredulously, unable to stifle the laughter that burst from him.

Ron glared sourly at him then jerked his head in the direction of Ed's pillow, "How about you open yours to see if you got any nasty surprises too."

Ed blinked at him in confusion, then looked behind him then blinked again in shock. Sure enough, there on his bed was a small pile of gifts, "Presents?" he muttered softly.

Harry smiled slightly at his response, no doubt recognising the tone of his voice and empathising with it. Ron just snorted and rolled his eyes, "Yes, presents. Jeez, am I the only one in this group that is used to a normal Christmas?"

Ed exchanged a rueful look with Ed and they both Shrugged, "Probably." They both answered.

Shaking his head, Ed turned back to the pile of gifts. Sifting through them he was bemused to find a package from his brother, one from Hawkeye and even one from the Colonel. On the bottom of the pile was a rather lumpy looking package and Ron sighed when he lifted it curiously, "Looks like mum has decided to adopt you while you are here as well." He told him cheerfully, rolling his eyes.

Ed turned the packet over in his hands, feeling rather bemused. He certainly hadn't expected a Christmas gift from a woman he had only just met.

Shrugging he tore open the paper and lifted out a deep red knitted jumped. Letting it unfold he blinked in surprise to find the seal that adorned the back of his usual red jacket knitted into the front in black wool. "Wow." He whispered.

Glancing at the other two he noticed that they too were holding new jumpers; Harry's a Gryffindor red with a golden snitch on the front, "She makes them for all of us, every year." Harry explained and Ed blinked his eyes, a suspicious tightening coming to his throat.

"And she made one for me?" he whispered. After a moment he managed to get control of himself and grinned in delight, "Ron, your mum is the best."

Ron flushed red and Harry laughed along with Ed.

Feeling rather cheerful Ed reached for another of his gifts.

In the end, Ed hadn't received anything nasty, although the book he received from the Colonel; _Little People: A handbook for the vertically challenged (spells and incantations relating to height)_, Had him muttering under his breath, rather pleased now at the plans he would be putting into effect once he got a spare moment with the twins. From his brother he received a stack of advanced Alchemy books and from Hawkeye a military handbook on how to handle difficult commanding officers.

After they cleared up the mess of maggots off Ron's floor, the three of them headed down to the kitchen, hearing the noises associated with Mrs Weasley preparing breakfast.

As they sat down to eat Ed cast a glance at Fred and George, giving a slight nod of his head, letting them know that he needed them after.

"What are you boy's planning for today?" Mrs Weasley asked, setting plates in front of them all. Harry and Ron shrugged and Ed gave a slight smirk as the twins put on looks of exaggerated innocence, "Why being our usual charming selves." Fred replied airily.

"Nothing planned at all."

"Yes nothing at all."

Mrs Weasley cast a suspicious glare at both of them then went back to preparing breakfast for all her guests and Ed snickered along with his partners in plotting.

All in all, Ed managed to get his timing down perfectly for a change for as soon as he and the twins finished their preparations there was an obnoxious call from the house;

"Fullmetal, did you fall into a hole out there, or did one of those gnomes I've been hearing about mistake you for family and ask you for tea?"

Ed stiffened and growled, and felt his eye twitching in irritation, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A STUPID GNOME, YOU IRRITATING CINDER BRAIN?" he yelled, his temper exploding. Stupid Colonel and his stupid book and stupid insults. Gritting his teeth he spun around to catch sight of a uniform clad figure standing in the doorway, smirking in his direction. "Oh come now, Fullmetal. I thought you were over this whole screaming at insults. What, has your temper grown shorter in the past week?"

Ed clenched his hands at his sides, hunching his shoulders and he could almost feel his hair standing on end with ire. "SHUT UP, YOU IDIOT."

The Colonel's smirk grew then he all out chuckled, causing Ed to stutter off in confusion, "Well Ed, it is good to see that you are feeling better." He laughed, turning to walk back into the house. Lieutenant Hawkeye, who had been standing behind her superior, gave Ed a nod of greeting and a small smile before following Mustang inside while Ed spluttered to himself, much to the amusement to the red headed twins who were snickering to each other behind him.

"Hey, take it easy Ed."

"Yes, take it easy. After all we will get him back soon enough."

"After all, the last laugh will be on him."

Ed looked back at the two of them, still irked by Mustang's persistent teasing but as soon as he caught the wicked expressions mirrored on two identical faces, he found himself smirking along with them. _'Right, the Battle Assessment.'_ He snickered rather evilly and gestured to the twins, "Come on guys, lets head inside. I have the feeling that the Colonel won't want to run my assessment until this afternoon." He snorted, "After all, the lazy moron won't want to fight on an empty stomach."

True to his guess, they found the Colonel and his ever present subordinate seated at Mrs Weasley's kitchen table, watching as the red headed Matriarch bustled around making last minute preparations to what was looking to be one hell of a Christmas lunch.

The two military personnel glanced up as Ed and the twins entered and Mustang gave him an amused smirk, "You might want to check over all of your resources, Fullmetal. I want you in top form for your Assessment this afternoon. After all, I wouldn't want to break something and have Winry or Al take exception to me once we return."

Ed snorted in disgust and walked right past him without comment, but he had every intention of following that piece of advice. Slipping up to Ron's room, he found the other boy's sitting on Ron's bed playing exploding snap. They both looked up as he entered and he grinned at them before slipping out the slim leather case that Winry had sent to him with Hawkeye. "So Ed, what are you up to? I thought I heard Colonel Mustang's voice earlier." Harry asked, turning an inquiring look at the case in Ed's hands as the Alchemist placed it on the bed then slipped off his coat and boots before taking a cross legged seat beside it.

"Yeah Colonel Annoying is here." He answered rather cheerfully, he found himself rather looking forward to this afternoons test. _'After all, it has been a long time since I had a decent challenge with my Alchemy. Too much more of this and I might become rusty.'_

Pulling the case in front of him, Ed unlatched it then lifted the lid, scanning the contents thoughtfully as he slipped off his gloves.

Ron and Harry abandoned their game and scooted over to watch him in curiosity, "So what is all that gear then?" Ron asked.

Ed grinned up at them, "My mechanic sent this along with the orders that I was to take care of my limbs. I thought it might be a good idea to run an overhaul before this afternoon. Like the Colonel said, I don't really want to face Winry after letting the idiot downstairs damage all of her hard work." Taking out the blueprints Winry had provided with the kit, Ed spread the one for his arm out before him, smiling slightly as the other two boys lent forward to look as well.

"Looks rather complicated." Harry observed and Ed snorted, reaching for one of the small screwdrivers.

"You could say that." He chuckled. Scanning the schematics he nodded to himself then looked down at his metal limb. "Hmmm, I might need a little help on this one." He mused, "This might be awkward left handed."

Bracing his hand against his knee, he unfastened the screws that held down the main plate that ran the back of his forearm and lifted the metal clear, making sure to place the screws off to one side so as not to loose them. Looking over the plate carefully he frowned as he noticed faint stress fractures in the metal, "Damn, that's not good." He muttered. It would take a lot of force to do that sort of damage and for the life of him he couldn't remember what he had done. Then it dawned on him, "That blasted Hippogriff." He swore. Placing the plate off to one side, he carefully examined the inner mechanics of his arm, ignoring the fascinated looks on Harry and Ron's face.

"Hey, does that hurt?" Ron finally asked as Ed poked around inside his own arm with the screwdriver for a few minutes.

Glancing up at him, Ed blinked then shook his head, "Nah. The only way it would hurt would be for me to take the thing off, or to disrupt the nerve circuits. All I'm doing now is making sure that blasted bird didn't do too much damage."

Finding nothing else broken, Ed turned his attention to the damaged plate. The fractures weren't too bad, but he knew from experience that even the slightest amount of damage jeopardised the strength of the limb. Frowning in thought, he took up the small piece of chalk that was in the kit then sketched a swift circle on the damaged metal. Without even really paying attention, he touched his finger to the circle and blinked as the blue flash faded before taking up the metal again and checking it over carefully. After a moment he came aware of the startled silence and he glanced up to see the two wizards in the room watching him with the oddest expressions on their faces.

"What?" he finally demanded and Harry blinked then gave him a grin as Ron just smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing Ed, I just don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing you do that."

Ed snorted then went back to his inspection, he didn't think he'd ever understand these wizards.

It took him around an hour to run a full check on both his arm and his leg after he had assured himself that the plate was sufficiently mended. Once he was done, he carefully oiled all the joints before putting everything back together, flexing both limbs once he finished to make sure all was in working order.

By the time he was finished, Mrs Weasley was calling them all down for lunch.

The spread that she laid out was glorious and they all sat down to a rather enjoyable meal with Ron and his siblings ribbing each other and Harry deep in conversation with Remus Lupin.

Around the time when some of them had started to sit back, clearly unable to eat anything else, Mrs Weasley, rather unexpectedly gave out a shout.

"Arthur! Arthur, look, it's Percy."

At her words, everyone froze and Mr Weasley let out a shocked, "_What?_" standing up to gaze out the window where his wife pointed.

Ed glanced up from his plate and caught sight of another red headed figure walking up to the house following a rather large wizard who's main of greying hair and stern expression gave him a kind of odd resemblance to a lion.

Mrs Weasley stuttered a little in uncertainty, "Arthur, he's – he's with the Minister."

At her words, Ed put down his fork and payed closer attention. So this was the man that the Colonel had been complaining about.

E noticed out of the corner of his eye that Harry was staring in the same direction, an unreadable expression on his face.

He turned his attention back to the new arrivals just as the back door opened to reveal the middle Weasley son whom Ed had heard so much about.

Ed could almost feel the tension in the air as the family members all stared before the young man cleared his throat carefully, and said rather stiffly, "Merry Christmas mother."

Mrs Weasley immediately burst into tears and Ed stepped back from the table, heading over to stand behind Mustang as the Minister entered the room and looked over everyone gathered.

Mrs Weasley, of course, offered for them to take a seat at the table but the Minister declined, "No, no my dear Molly. We were just passing through on business and Percy insisted we stop in to see you. Why don't I just take a stroll around the yard while you two catch up. If anyone would care to show me your charming garden… ah, that young man's finished. Why doesn't he take a stroll with me."

The entire room went still as the man indicated to Harry and Ed narrowed his eyes. He didn't buy the whole innocent, _'We were in the neighbourhood.'_ routine, and it looked as though the rest of them didn't either.

Harry studied the man for a moment then flickered a glance at the Order members in the room before standing and making his way to the door. "It's fine." Ed heard him whisper to Lupin as he passed the concerned werewolf.

Ed looked rather pointedly at his superior and Mustang gave a barely perceptible nod, silently ordering Ed to follow.

Mr Weasley and Lupin both saw him move but neither one of them said anything, both of them knowing that he was Harry's bodyguard on Dumbledore's orders. Even if this was the Minister of Magic they were talking about, Ed had heard enough about this ministry of theirs, especially when it concerned Harry, to not trust them as far as he could throw them.

Ed slipped out into the yard and spotted Harry leading the Minister off to one side of the garden and discretely followed them. A stray thought in his head had him snorting to himself as he mused that in this instance he was rather glad Al _wasn't_ with him. After all, if they had learnt anything in their journey's it had been that an eight foot suit of armour just wasn't made for stealth.

He managed to slip himself behind some bushes, being careful not to disturb the snow too much, without either of them noticing him and he settled down to listen.

The older man was discussing the rumours that had been flying around concerning the prophecy and Ed had to hold back a snort at his rather heavy handed way of fishing for information. Harry seemed to be keeping a carefully neutral expression throughout.

"…. I assume Dumbledore discussed this with you?" Ed narrowed his eyes, watching the Minister as he carefully eyed Harry, taking note of the younger wizards responses.

Not that he was going to get much out of him, Ed noticed with a smirk as Harry gave a nonchalant shrug, "Yeah, we've discussed it." he answered vaguely.

"Have you, have you! …. And what has Dumbledore told you?"

Ed had to bite his lip as Harry's voice dropped about half a degree in temperature, "Sorry, but that's between us." The tone of voice was still friendly but Ed smirked at the frost that lightly rimmed it, _'Way to go Harry.'_

The Minister was rather good, he had to give him that, he didn't even bat an eyelash but went on in a friendly manner, "Oh, of course, if it is a question of confidences, I wouldn't want you to divulge… no, no… and in any case, does it really matter if you are the Chosen One or not?"

Ed raised an eyebrow, _'Hello, what is this old fool up to?'_

Harry looked slightly confused, "I'm not sure what you mean, Minister."

"Well of course, to _you_ it will matter enormously. But to the wizarding community at large… it's all perception, isn't it? It's what people believe that is important."

Ed started to scowl, he could see where this was heading, and from the faintly disturbed look in his eyes, Harry had a vague idea as well.

Ed listened as the man continued along that line for a few more moments and Ed felt himself getting more and more furious, "And I can't help but feel that once you realise the hope that you would give people if they were to hear that you were destined to destroy He-That-Must-Not-Be-Named, then you might consider it, well almost a duty, to stand alongside the ministry and give everyone a boost."

Harry was silent for al long time and Ed was swearing in his head. Of all the dimwitted, idiotic, moronic…

"I'm not sure I understand, Minster." Harry said, a little stiffly.

The Minister shrugged as if it was nothing, "It's nothing too serious, Harry. I assure you. But if you were to be seen popping in and out of the Ministry from time to time, for instance, that would give the right impression. And of course, while you are there, you would have ample opportunity to Gawain Roberts, My successor as Head of the Auror Office. Dolorus Umbridge has told me that you cherish an ambition to become an Auror. Well, that could be arranged rather easily…"

Ed rather thought that Harry was going to explode, by the look on his face. Not that he was in any better condition. What the man was describing was a situation that he himself had found himself in on many occasion with the military wanting to use his name as a means to an end to get public support.

Ed continued to stew in his own head, only half listening as Harry questioned the man further before his attention was claimed once again as Harry said, quiet calmly, "No, I don't think that this will work." And Ed listened in amazement as Harry proceeded to give the man a rather thorough dressing down.

The Minister tried to keep control of the conversation but clearly Harry was fed up and he rounded him out, "You want me to convince everyone that you are winning the war against Voldemort." Harry was telling him icily, an Ed applauded him in his mind, damn and he thought he was the only one who went off at his superiors like that, "I haven't forgotten, Minister. I don't remember the ministry rushing to my defence last year when I was trying to tell everyone that Voldemort was back. They weren't so keen to be pals then."

They stood staring at each other in silence and Ed held his breath.

Finally the Minister broke the impasse, "What is Dumbledore up to?" he asked brusquely, "Where does he go when he is absent from Hogwarts?"

"No idea." Harry had obviously had enough of answering this mans questions.

"And you wouldn't tell me if you knew, would you?"

Ed rolled his eyes, _'Brilliant deduction there, detective.'_

"No, I wouldn't."

The Minister narrowed his eyes slightly, "Then I shall have to find out by other means."

Harry Shrugged, "You can try." He said indifferently, "But you seem cleverer then Fudge, so I'd have thought you'd have learned from his mistakes. He tried interfering at Hogwarts. You might have noticed that he is no longer Minister, but Dumbledore is still Headmaster. I'd leave Dumbledore alone, if I were you."

There was a long pause and Ed was having a hard time containing his glee, next time he needed to deliver the Colonel a dressing down, he was hiring Harry.

"Well it is clear to me that he has done a fine job on you." The Minister said finally, his eyes cold, "Dumbledore's man to the end, aren't you Potter?"

"Yeah, I am." Harry answered, "Glad we straightened that out." Turning his back on the man, Harry strode back to the house and Ed stayed where he was, enjoying the sour look on the wizards face, _'That's what you get for trying to manipulate someone who has had enough.'_ He thought in satisfaction.

……………………….

AN/ I know the whole conversation with the Minister is a pain, but it is important later so I had to leave it in, although I did edit it as much as I could so it didn't drag as much. Anyway, next chapter up is the long awaited battle assessment, and I promise to try to get this one up quicker.

Thank you once again for all your fantastic reviews.

See ya.


	25. Ch 25: Battle Assessment

AN/ Here it is, the battle assessment. Sorry for the wait but internet problems meant a hold up. That and the fact that I have managed to be accepted into university so I have been running around getting all the paperwork done. In two months time I will be studying to become a Japanese teacher, whoo hoo. Anyway, here we go, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own either series, just have fun torturing the characters.

**Chapter 25: Battle Assessment**

"So Fullmetal. Are you prepared this time?" Colonel Mustang stood across from him in the Weasley's yard, his immaculate uniform looking rather odd when you took in the rather haphazard building that represented the wizard family's home behind him.

Ed snorted, "Really Colonel, I thought you would know better by now, I am always prepared."

The Colonel smirked at him and raised an eyebrow, "That's not what I remember Edward. As I recall, most of the time you fly off the handle without even thinking. After all, I am generally the one who is left to clean up the mess afterwards."

Ed felt his temper stirring but his eyes drifted to a few points on the ground, indistinguishable from the rest of the snow and a smirk that rivalled his superiors spread across his face, "Tell me Colonel, how does it feel to act like me for a change?"

Mustang frowned slightly at the question and Ed's smirk grew, _'Heh, payback time Colonel.'_

"What are you talking about?" he asked finally and Ed snickered.

"If I am the one that fly's off the handle all the time, as you say, why is it that you are the one who has almost blown our cover, on numerous occasions, by torching the ministry staff?"

There was a faint snicker off to one side and Ed could see annoyance in the Colonels dark eyes. They had a rather large audience at the moment as the entire group that had gathered for Christmas had all slipped out into the yard as soon as they heard of the assessment that the Colonel had planned.

A patch of royal blue off to one side shifted slightly and Ed turned his eyes to where Hawkeye was standing in time to catch the irritated look she was casting their superiors way and snickered.

"After all Colonel," he continued, "It took you about a fortnight and you were in a magazine for barbequing someone's desk. The only reason that I have been 'found out' is because I was ordered to tell my friends as much as I deemed necessary to keep them safe."

The dark eyebrow of the man across from him twitched slightly and Ed snickered, "Why sir, one would think you didn't want to be here. If I remember correctly, this was your idea to begin with."

Mustang glared at him for a moment then his face split into a wide grin and Ed felt his stomach drop, _'Uh oh.'_ He was about to get as good as he had just given.

"That is true, Fullmetal," he all but purred, "And as I recall, you are the one who insisted that magic was not real, so I guess then that you won't mind if I add a few more stakes to your assessment. After all, you did mention something about some research you were conducting, how about we put your theories to the test."

Without any more warning then that, there was a muttered incantation off to one side and Ed dove out of the way as a stream of purple light streaked past him. _'Oh shit.'_

He had enough time to roll to his feet before; _snap, fizzt, BOOM._

He was thrown back by a fireball exploding almost under his nose. "Come on Fullmetal, you can do better then this. I mean, as small a target as you are, I would think that dodging would be even easier." The Colonel's voice taunted as he flipped into a back handspring to bring himself out from under the flames. With a growl of annoyance, he clapped his hands together and slammed them into the ground then sprang away again before his transmutation had even taken effect, clapping again and bringing up his alchemy shield as another attack headed towards him from which ever of the watching wizards the bastard had managed to talk into helping.

There was a curse off to one side and Ed snapped his head around and almost choked on his laughter at the sight of the Colonel with a gnome attacked to either leg, biting at his knees. He really had to thank the twins for their idea of chasing the things out of their burrows, making sure the entrances just happened to be at the Colonels feet.

It didn't last long as Mustang snapped and the two ugly creatures let go of him, cursing in their high voices as twin fire balls went off beneath their backsides.

Ed didn't pause, knowing that he had to act fast. He clapped his hands again and drew his hand over his metal arm, making sure that the blade he brought forth was dull, after all he didn't really want to hurt the man by accident.

He realised after a moment that it probably wouldn't have mattered if he had made the blade razor sharp. He closed with the Colonel and took a swipe at his head and the man swayed out of reach effortlessly and snapped again, causing Ed to spring away from the small blast before launching himself straight back in again, ducking low and sweeping his automail leg at the Colonel's knees.

Mustang flipped out of the way, much as Ed had earlier, and swept out with his own foot as soon as he landed in a low crouch, catching Ed behind his ankle and sending him tumbling.

He continued his roll knowing that if he stayed still he would end up char grilled, and sure enough another detonation left a crater in the ground where he had just been.

Springing to his feet, he glanced around and grinned in anticipation as he saw a few points of sparks on the ground around the Colonels feet, "Hey sparky, you might want to take cover." He taunted and dove to one side as the faint whistle the twins had warned him of came from the hidden gifts he had buried in the snow earlier.

Mustang had enough time to glance down at the sound before the snow erupted in three points around his feet and sparking fireworks shot up into the air.

A brightly coloured Catherine wheel whirled around him and he cursed as the hem of his jacket was set alight. Slapping at the smouldering fabric he ducked instinctively as a dragon shaped out of green sparks swooped in at his head, training red flames.

While the man battled with the fireworks, Ed found himself bombarded by spells, and he cursed loudly as he threw up his shield. Then with a wicked grin, he clapped his hands and watched with glee as the transmutation circle appeared in the air outlined in blue light in time to catch another spell hurled his way.

He heard Ron yell, "Dad, look out." As the circle absorbed the blast then sent it hurtling back to the one who cast it to be caught on the man's own shield as he threw up his own charms, forewarned of what Ed was capable off.

Ed laughed to himself as he heard good natured cursing from the sidelines then swore himself as another blast went off beneath his feet, the Colonel having managed to shake off the fireworks.

He managed to scramble out of the way of the fireball that roared up at him but had to dodge sharply to one side as the telltale trail of sparks circles around to his left, signalling one of the Flame Alchemists more enthusiastic explosions.

The concussion of the displaced air was strong enough to knock him off his feet and he quickly scrambled to regain his footing but froze as he found a set of fingers, encased in a smudged white glove, poised beneath his nose.

"So Fullmetal, do you yield?" Ed blinked up into amused black eyes and chuckled nervously, trying to think his way out of this situation. He knew if he moved he was going to be a cinder.

He shifted slightly then blanched as his hand came down on a soft patch of earth beside him. He had forgotten one last trap and he had just tripped it himself.

There was a puff of pink smoke that twirled around him and he stared in shock, going cross eyed as he watched the tip of his own nose stretch out three inches from it's usual size. The overgrown bangs hanging in his eyes bled from blond to bright pink and he groaned, not really wanting to know what other changes had come over him. This was a new invention of Fred and George's. They had warned him that they hadn't fully tested it yet, but assured him that it was completely harmless. The powder was encased in a flat bladder that changed itself to look like the surface of whatever it was resting on, perfect for putting on people's chairs. The powder inside puffed out in a cloud, engulfing the poor unfortunate person to sit on it. What it did, on the other hand, was different for each batch. Basically it made the victim look like a complete idiot, changing their appearance temporarily.

He glanced up at a faint snicker and saw a suspicious twinkle in the black eyes that still gazed down at him. As soon as he caught the Colonel's eyes, that twinkle grew and he saw the stoic face twitch and a soft snort came from the sharp nose.

Grumbling to himself, he sighed but pulled up short as the sigh came out as a loud quack. Unfortunately, that was all Mustang was able to handle. The man collapsed over onto his backside and all but howled with laughter and Ed gritted his teeth, hearing laughter from the sidelines as well.

Finally he gave in and collapsed onto his back, laughing hard, his laugh coming out as a collection of quacks, that just made him laugh all the more.

By the time they had managed to calm down some, Ed had regained the use of his voice and he pushed himself up by has hands and glanced around the yard a grimace coming to his face. Mrs Weasley's once neat yard looked like a war zone. There were smoking craters all over the place, interspersed with the rubble from Ed's transmutations and some of the bushes around the edges still smouldered.

"I think we have clean up duty again, Colonel." He muttered.

Mustang looked around too, still snorting softly. Seeing the devastation, he pulled a face and sighed but a chuckle from behind them cut off any comment he might have made.

"Don't worry about the mess." Mr Weasley told them cheerfully as he and the twins helped the two of them to their feet, "We have fixed up bigger disasters caused by Fred and George in the past." He nodded to said boys and the two of them grinned in understanding.

Turning, they pulled out their wands and spoke in unison, "_Reparo_."

The yard shifted itself back to its original state and the twins turned to the three military members, Hawkeye having come over to stand with the other two, and gave a flourishing bow.

"Allow us to present the handymen extraordinaire."

"No job too big."

"No job too small."

"Hide the evidence of even the biggest prank."

"Leave no trace of an experiment gone wrong."

Ed laughed at the two of them then tugged at the end of his still overlarge nose, "Speaking of pranks, how long until this wears off?"

Fred shrugged, the innocent look on his face mirrored by his brother, "No idea."

"Yes, no idea at all."

"After all, we did warn you."

"Yes we did. Not properly tested remember."

Ed looked from one innocent face to the other and felt his eye begin to twitch, Mustang wasn't helping snickering in his ear either.

"Are you telling me I am stuck like this?"

They shrugged and spoke together, "Not permanently."

Ed dropped to his knees and pulled his braid over his shoulder to stare at his bright pink hair mournfully, feeling a sympathetic pat on his shoulder, he looked up into Harry's face, Ron standing beside him, "Look at it this way mate." Ron informed him gravely, "At least this way, the first thing they comment on isn't going to be your height anymore."

That comment sent the Colonel into another howl of laughter and Mrs Weasley ushered them all inside, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"You, Mr Mustang, get yourself over here." She demanded. The snickering Colonel raised an eyebrow at her then turned pale as she pointer her wand at him, "Don't be silly dear, I'm just going to clean you us a bit, _Scourgify_." The scorch marks on the Man's uniform vanished and the soot that streaked his face cleared away and after carefully looking himself over, the Colonel bowed to her, "My thanks, Madam." Then he turned his eyes on his young subordinate, "Fullmetal, I think you had better clean yourself up as well." The look he threw him had Ed rolling his eyes. He knew what that meant, he was to clean himself up the hard way. Snapping his heels together, he gave an insolent salute, "Yes sir, Colonel sir." turning on his heal, he marched from the room, then skipped up the stairs once he was out of sight of the kitchen. From the footsteps behind him, he gathered that Ron and Harry were following him.

Once they reached Ron's room, the other two collapsed on their beds as Ed searched through his trunk for a clean set of clothes.

"That was wicked, Ed." Ron said enthusiastically, "A lot more involved then a wizards duel. In those, all you really do is stand back and throw spells at each other."

Ed snorted as he pulled out a new set of pants, "Stupid really. As I told Snape, all you have to do is get inside the wizards reach. If he doesn't know how to protect himself with his hands and feet, he's done for." Pulling out another shirt, he stripped off his red jacket and lay it on the bed, and as the other two boys turned their backs he changed his clothes, then collapsed onto the bed.

"Damn, that was fun though." He laughed, "Did you see the look on his face when those gnomes grabbed him?" he snickered and shook his head.

Harry laughed, "Or when those fireworks erupted out of the ground. So do you think you'll get a good review?"

Ed shrugged and stared at the violent orange ceiling, "Not sure, really." He mused, "I have a written section to hand in as well containing all of my research. Somehow I think that it is going to be fine." He threw a smirk over at the two wizards, "After all, no one in the higher ranks knows anything about magic other then Colonel annoying downstairs, so anything I give them is going to be breakthrough research."

He lay contemplating his assessment for a moment when there came a knock at the door before it was respectfully opened by none other then Lieutenant Hawkeye, "Fullmetal, sir." she nodded to him and he sat up on his bed, "The Colonel would like to talk to you for a moment."

He sighed then nodded, "I'll be right down."

He turned a look of resignation on the other two as the older woman closed the door again and Harry raised an eyebrow at him, "Is there a problem?"

Ed gave him a sour look, "Oh no, not really." He answered, "The Colonel is just going to give me his, _you screwed up_ lecture. Either for my assessment or something else I managed to do wrong."

Sighing he rose to his feet and lifted his jacket to slip it on when something caught his eye and he lifted the garment to stare at it in horror. The entire bottom edge had been burnt off and there scorch marks up the back. Standing there Ed felt his face heat up as his temper boiled.

From down in the kitchen they heard the explosion, Roy Mustang listening with his old smirk turning into a grin at the ranting, "OI BASTARD. WHAT THE HELL IS THE BIG IDEA OF SETTING FIRE TO MY COAT? WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU ARE GOING TO WISH HAWKEYE TURNED YOU INTO SWISS CHEESE FOR SETTING YOUR PAPERWORK ON FIRE THE OTHER MORNING…."  
The kid continued to rant, Mustang however had gone pale and his face twitched slightly as the familiar feeling of cold metal on his neck sent a shiver down his spine, "Eh heh, Hawkeye. Ah, what he meant was…"

……………….

AN/ Heh, so there we go. Ed has pink hair, Mustang is about to be shot for shirking his duties again and Ron and Harry have seen a demonstration of what Ed is capable of. Something that will come in handy later when all goes to hell.

Thank you for your reviews once again, and for your patience. I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed writing it.

See ya.


	26. Ch 26: Hughes

AN/ Well here we are finally. Between illness, starting a new job, getting distracted by some _really_ good fics and the stupid internet cutting out on me every twenty minutes then coming back on at irregular intervals, this chapter has been a long time coming. Well, we are getting into the main grit of the story now, as you will see and just a short note here, I have finally seen the rest of the series now so I modified what I was going to write so it corresponds more with both stories but there will still be some differences. You will also note, those of you who have read the manga anyway, that some of the points I will be blending from the manga and the series as there is more detail in the manga in some sections that I want to use.

Anyway, enough of me talking, one with the chapter.

Gaaah, I had this chapter done a week ago but have had no internet access, my sincere apologies.

Disclaimer: Yeah still not mine, pity.

**Chapter 26: Hughes**

Fortunately for Mustang, his subordinate didn't turn him into Swiss cheese over burning his paper work, however she did give him a rather bland smile that was all the more frightening then any evil look _he_ had ever come up with and handed him a rather thick envelope. He raised an eyebrow at her in suspicion and handled the package as if he expected it to explode,

"And what is in here?" he asked her bluntly.

She stood stiffly at parade rest and stared blandly over his shoulder at the wall, "Nothing at all sir. Just some forms that you overlooked this morning that you need to complete in order to send back to HQ. I thought it would be prudent to bring them along as we wouldn't want you to fall behind with everything that is happening."

Keeping his eyebrow raised, not believing a word of her explanation Mustang slipped his nail under the wax seal on the envelope and slipped out the thick sheaf of paper. Skimming over the contents he felt his face go flat as his eye twitch, "Lieutenant?" he asked flatly, "Why the hell are you carrying duplicates of all the blasted forms you brought with you from HQ?"

He didn't get a reply as just then a certain young alchemist, who still sported bright pink hair even if the other weird features had faded, walked into the room in time to catch the question and the expression on his superiors face. Ed snorted then almost collapsed as he laughed at Mustang's face and the man pushed down his irritation and let a smirk spread across his expression. "Tell me Fullmetal, are you going to keep your hair that colour?" he asked, his voice light with totally feigned curiosity, "If you are, I think you might want to reconsider the whole braid thing, after all, you look enough like a little girl anyway, wouldn't want to reinforce the situation."

Ed nearly choked on his laughter and he threw a glare at him, "Very funny, Colonel." He shot back sarcastically, "As soon as you let me know how to overcome an untested prank curse I'll fix that right away. After all, wouldn't want the reputation of the next Fuehrer to be coloured by the fact that his subordinate has pink hair."

Mustang blinked at him in surprise, "Is there something wrong, Fullmetal? That has to be the worst comeback I have ever heard from you."

He actually felt slightly alarmed as all clowning left the younger Alchemist's face and his expression became serious and slightly disturbed. "I think that I need to have a talk with you Colonel." He answered vaguely, glancing at Hawkeye, obviously including her as well, "There are a few things that I want to clear up and I have a few more things to report."

Mustang nodded, then rose to his feet, "If you would be so kind as to excuse us for a moment." He nodded politely to Mrs Weasley then led his two subordinates out the back door and into the garden.

Finding a secluded spot beneath a couple trees, Mustang turned to Ed, "Well?"

Ed seemed to gather himself then frowned in thought, "From what I can gather, Envy seems to be here scouting out this Voldemort character. I'm not exactly sure why but we can almost guarantee it has something to do with the philosophers stone. I'm not sure if they have figured out that the wizard stone is useless to them yet or not." He stopped for a moment then shook his head in frustration, "That is of course depending on what exactly they want the thing for. I mean, I know they want to be human, but I'm not entirely sure that is all they are after. Anyway, as far as Mr Lupin could tell me it didn't look as though they are actively part of this conflict but we might want to still keep an eye on them. I don't know about you but I am suspicious of anything that involves those freaks."

Mustang hummed in agreement and frowned slightly, "You're right. I want you to ask those Order contacts of yours to keep an eye out, give them descriptions of the other homunculi as well, it would be good to know how many of them are here."

Ed nodded in acknowledgement, then turned a faintly troubled gaze at his commanding officer and Mustang felt his stomach clench. Something in the boy's eyes convinced him he was not going to like whatever was on the younger Alchemist's mind, "Sir," he shifted rather uncomfortably, "I received a letter from my brother a few days ago and there are a few things I wanted to ask you about."

Mustang slipped his hands into his pockets and nodded for him to continue, Ed took a deep breath, "First off, Al told me that there is something very strange going on amongst the higher ups. He reported that Winry and Chesqua had overheard some disturbing communications and there were also some odd rumours going around before we left about your transfer to Central HQ. It seems as though you are being moved around in order to keep tabs on you and there are a few other points as well." He pinned Mustang with his golden eyes and hit him between the eyes with his next sentence, "Al also told me that every time he asked after Hughes he was rebuffed then he was told if he wanted to know anything, he was to ask you. Well I'm asking, Colonel. What the hell is going on?"

Mustang had to fight hard to keep his expression blank but his pain must have shown through as the silence stretched between them because Ed's golden eyes slowly widened and his face started to twist with denial.

Taking hold of his anger and grief, Mustang managed to answer the plea in the eyes boring into his own, his voice as smooth as ever but tight with strain, "Less then a week before we left Maes Hughes was discovered shot dead in a phone box in the park across from head quarters. From what we were able to discover, it looks as though he had been researching something in the archives and I can only assume that what he found out was the cause of his elimination."  
Throughout his explanation Ed's eyes had gotten wider and his face took on a look of total shock, "_What?_" he whispered in disbelief, a frantic gleam came over his eyes and he grasped Mustang's jacket, the older man not even stepping back, just merely staring into those wide gold eyes, his own pain sharpening at the agony growing in them. "What do you mean he was found dead? Hughes can't be dead, there is just no way." Ed's voice had gotten a little higher and his words more strained as he spoke and Mustang could almost feel the waves of pain coming off the boy still grasping his jacket;

"Edward, I know how you feel but there is nothing we can do to bring him back, you know that." The words acted like a slap in the face and Mustang mentally cursed himself as the Ed stumbled back from him, his teeth clenched and tears standing in his eyes, _'Damn, not the best thing to say to this Alchemist. I am such an idiot.'_

Reaching out, he grabbed Ed's jacket as the youngster swayed on his feet, "Easy Edward, I shouldn't have said that. I apologise, but I need you to keep it together for me. Now more then ever." He searched the gold eyes carefully, noting the struggled going on behind that gaze as Ed pulled himself together, as soon as it was plane the boy had at least some control over his emotions, Mustang nodded. "Good, now all I have been able to come up with so far is that whatever Hughes was researching had something to do with the top brass. I have the rest of the team investigating things while I am here, but whomever is involved with this has already tied my hand by ordering Armstrong to keep his mouth shut about anything he uncovers."

Ed's eyes narrowed slightly and he rubbed at his forehead, a clear sign that although his shock hadn't lessoned any, he was thinking hard on the situation.

"It must be serious if Hughes was trying to contact you outside HQ communications," he mused, "Otherwise he would have just called you through the switch board as he usually did."

Mustang frowned slightly and leant back against the tree he was standing in front of, "That's what we had discovered," he agreed, "As soon as I heard, I backtracked his movements as far as I could and found out that he had first headed for the switchboard but had left again before contacting me. The officer on duty told me that he had been injured and was rather frantic at the time. After that we headed down to records to find a trail of blood through the hallways. Whomever had attacked him had injured him there, inside Head Quarters itself before tracking him outside to kill him just as he reached me via the phone box. The problem is we have no idea what he was researching, he returned all of the records he had been using before heading out."

Ed started to pace, muttering to himself before he suddenly stopped a faint frown on his face, "Hang on, if it has something to do with the records, has anyone bothered to ask Chesqua if she knows anything? I mean, she is the one Hughes had transcribe all of those records after they were destroyed when the libraries third branch went up."

Mustang pushed off the tree in surprise and started to pace himself, "Actually, no I didn't have her questioned. As a matter of fact, I hadn't seen her around much." Frowning, he turned his gaze on Ed, "Fullmetal, I want you to contact your brother for me. See if he can get some information out of Chesqua that might of use. Have her send through all of those records if necessary and go over them yourself. Other then that, I want you to follow up on your investigations here as well. As you said, anything that involves the Homunculi at this point is suspicious."

Looking out over the snow covered garden he addressed the silent form to his side, "I trust I can count on you Lieutenant to aid us in getting to the bottom of all this." He didn't ask, he merely made it a statement. Hawkeye had been his shadow for many years now and as with the others on his crew he knew that her loyalty ran with him first then to the military they served.

"Yes sir." was all the answer he received and he turned his sharp gaze on the youngest soldier under his command. Ed met his stare with a determined glare,

"You just try and order me _not_ to investigate this and you'll have a fight on your hands." He grated and Mustang nodded in satisfaction;

"Very well. I suggest we head back to out respective positions here. I suspected that one of the reasons we were sent here in the first place was to keep our noses out of whatever is happening back home, but I am getting the feeling that there is more to this trip then that. Ed, I want you to keep all of your research into magic strictly confidential other then your reports to me. I am going to keep your research out of your assessment for your license renewal as well. Until we uncover more of what is going on, keeping some of the information you have uncovered under wraps might be a prudent course of action."

Ed nodded in agreement and the three of them headed back to the house.

Following the Colonel back across the yard, Ed mused on all that the man had revealed to him. For Hughes to have been killed like that it meant that whatever he had uncovered had been really big. He would have to warn his brother to watch his back and to make sure that he looked out for Chesqua and Winry as well. He'd have to make sure they kept close to the rest of the squad, if anything came up they could count on the support of Fury, Havoc and the others. What had him worried however was the fact that it looked as though the man had been attacked inside HQ itself, meaning that there was no doubt that whatever was going on was linked to the higher brass. Not only that, but Hughes was too cunning when it came to his job and the mere fact that someone had gotten close enough to him to kill him when he was already on alert trying to contact Mustang meant one of two things, nether of them pleasant; either he knew the person that killed him and trusted them enough to allow them close or, and here was the thought that sent him cold, he knew them alright but the form that they wore wasn't their own and there was only one shape shifter around that he was aware of.

He fully intended to follow the Colonel's orders on investigating the presence of the Homunculi here. If it turned out they were involved in Hughes's murder, then the situation back home just raised another notch in his idea of very bad.

Once they reached the house, Ed absently excused himself and headed up to the room he shared with Ron and Harry. He found the latter sitting reading on his bed and from the sounds he could here from out the window, Ron was outside doing some chore for his mother.

Sitting back against the wall, Ed stared at his foot while hugging his other knee to his chest and he noted out of the corner of his eye Harry putting down his book, "Something the matter?" the young wizard asked him softly.

Ed narrowed his eyes, coming to a decision, "I'm going to need your help." He stated carefully, not even looking up, "The Colonel has just brought something to my attention and I have the unsettling feeling that there is more of a connection to the little war you have going on here and the situation building back home."

Glancing over at Harry he saw that his tone of voice had caught the others boy's attention and he was looking at him intensely, a serious look on his face. Nodding once, Ed crossed his legs and leant forward to rest his elbows on his knees, "I am going to be writing to my brother to get him to send me some information but what I need you to do is to see if you can uncover anything on this end that might be of use." He explained, "I didn't go into any detail when the Colonel spoke to us after the Dementor incident but you might remember him mentioning someone named Envy?" he caught the slight nod the other gave him and continued, "The truth is he is a Homunculus. The reason I was so pissed at Snape asking about them at the start of the year is because I have had a bunch of them after me for years now."

Harry chuckled darkly, "Looks like we have something else in common."

Ed snorted, "Yeah, guess so. Anyway, this particular one is a shape shifter, real nasty piece of work. And there are five others that I know about, Lust is your run of the mill psycho, she kills anything that gets in her way and can transform her fingers into needle sharp spikes. Gluttony is as stupid as they come but he can eat _anything_ and humans are one of his favourite meals." He saw Harry shudder and he grimaced in distaste himself, "As for Greed, I killed him last year. The most recent one we met was Wrath, a rather unstable little freak who can actually use Alchemy and there is one other that works with the Fuehrer, but we haven't found out her name yet." He shook off the confusing images that came to mind at the memory of that hauntingly familiar face and turned back to Harry, "The reason I am telling you all of this." He said gravely, "Is because I need you to see if you can uncover any rumours of anyone meeting the description of this lot hanging around at all. From what the Colonel has told me, there is definitely something going back at home and the addition of magic into the mix would be disastrous. I also have the feeling that we are going to have to warn Professor Dumbledore of the possibility of Alchemic interference in your own problems."  
Harry nodded thoughtfully, "I should have another of our sessions once we get back to school." He muttered, "I can talk to him then, and as to your other concerns I'll contact Remus and ask him to keep his ear to the ground. Other then that, I might be able to get some of the other Order members to keep a watch out as well, I'll even suggest it to Professor Dumbledore as well." he turned his green eyes on Ed and grinned a little ruefully, "You might consider talking to Snape, as much of a git he is and as suspicious as he has been acting, he still has more ways then any of the rest of us at finding out information on Voldemort's side of things."

Ed grunted sourly and leant back against the wall again, "Yeah I know. Believe me, I plan on talking to the creep once we get back. And if you can follow up on some of your suspicions it would help as well. if it turns out there is a connection between our little problems then the more information we have, the better."

Harry nodded in agreement and pulled out a sheet of parchment, presumably to contact Lupin and Ed did the same, planning on drafting that letter to his brother.

As he wrote flashes of memories flickered in his mind and he had to clench his teeth to keep from swearing aloud at the pain they caused.

He saw Nina and Alexander, the faces of Doctor Marco's patients, the good Doctor himself whom they hadn't heard from at all since they handed him over to military hands, he saw Winry's face as she heard the news about the death of her parents when they were young, he also saw flashed of Hughes family. His wonderful wife who had welcomed him and his brother with open arms, his beautiful little girl they had seen come into the world and who was the pride of her fathers entire existence. Last of all he saw the agony in the Colonel's eyes as he told of the death of his best friend.

Clenching his hand, Ed didn't even notice when he snapped the pen he had been using in half. When he found out who was behind all this suffering he would make them sorry they had ever involved Edward Elric in any way.

…………………..

AN/ So, there we have it, now Ed knows. I know that it is earlier then when he finds out in the series, but I need him to know now. And as one of you mentioned there wasn't much shock on his part in the series, where I am now, there will be more repercussions over the news later as well, it seems to me he got over it all way to fast in the series. Anyway, this is where the story is going to get more interesting as the two series blend even more and we find out more of what the Homunculi are after;

Here is a hint on _some_ of what is happening, for those who have seen the series, what is it that the _boss_ of the Homunculi is after? Why does this person need the stone? And what is it that Voldemort has managed to accomplish that corresponds with that?

Heh. OK, BTW thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews, huh, I broke the 500 mark, _yes._ Even managed to get over 50 for the last chapter, a new record for me. Huge thanks again, and I am glad every one is still enjoying.

Thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter, I hope you enjoy.

See Ya


	27. Ch 27: Investigations and Suspicions

AN/ Hey everyone, severe apologise for the wait. If you are reading Interpretations you know that I started uni and work this month, so things have been really hectic. But here is the next chapter finally, and don't worry I have no plans on abandoning this, it's way too much fun to write, I just don't have much time. Well, here we go, onto the next chapter.

Disclaimer:…….. Not mine (still, unfortunately)

**Chapter 27: Investigations and Suspicions**

A few days after new year Ed lined up beside the kitchen fire with the rest of those returning to Hogwarts. Mustang and Hawkeye had left the day before to return to the ministry, the Colonel leaving him grim instructions to make sure he investigated things on his end and to watch his back. That parting shot, delivered without any sarcastic additions, drove home in Ed's mind just how seriously the man was taking the situation brewing both at home and here, giving him a slight chill of apprehension.

Looking around at the faces of the wizards whom he had come to see as more then just his charges he fought down a shiver. This group had been fighting a silent war for years, Harry more then anyone, but even they were not prepared for what would come about if the conflict building in Amestris was to spill over into their world as well.

His grim thoughts were interrupted by a tearful Mrs Weasley entering the room, a flower pot in her hands. Standing off to one side, he watched as she hugged each of her children, even Harry, admonishing each of them to be careful and to stay out of trouble. eventually she came to him and to his great surprise she hugged him as well, "Take care of my children for me, please." She whispered to him, low enough for the others not to hear. Pulling back, Ed studied her frightened eyes and nodded once in understanding,

"You can be sure of that, Mrs Weasley." He reassured her.

Smiling through her tears, she touched his cheek gently and Ed felt an odd lump come to his throat, "So young for such responsibility." She told him softly, "Like Harry, life has been unfair to you. Take care of yourself as well, Edward."

Before he could come up with a reply, she had steeped away from him and he caught Harry's eye as the young wizard gave him an understanding smile. Shaking his head, he regained control of his emotions and watched in curiosity as Ginny took a handful of powder out of the flowerpot her mother offered to her and stepped into the fireplace. Wondering what on earth they could possibly be doing, he turned to ask Harry when there was a flash of green light and he snapped his head around to see Ginny spin away in a swirl of green flames and a cry of "Hogwarts."

Ed yelped and stumbled back as the flames cleared and Harry laughed at his reaction, "Just the Floo network, Ed. Nothing to be concerned about, and by the way, Dumbledore sent through a message to say that it would recognise your energy enough for you to pass through without a problem as well. Said he did the same thing to the network that he did to the barrier, if that makes any sense to you."

Ed frowned in thought, then remembered the letter the old man had sent to him before the start of term telling him he had spelled the barrier at the train station to recognise his alchemic signature as magic. With a snort, he shook his head, "Yeah, surprisingly it does make more sense then not." He reassured the other boy and they both watched as they waited their turn at the fire place.

All in all, Ed reflected later, fire travel was one experience he would rather have foregone.

He had stepped up to the fireplace after Harry had vanished and had taken a handful of the course grey powder Mrs Weasley had offered him, "Don't worry dear," she smiled at him, "The others will be at the other end to help you once you're through."

With that she stepped back and Ed took a deep breath, tossing the powder at his feet as he had seen the others do, mentally crossing his fingers he half flinched as the green flames roared up around him and yelled, "Hogwarts."

After whiling through a confusing array of images, Ed finally came to an abrupt halt and staggered out of the hearth clutching his stomach and with a groan he blinked around at the others in the room.

"My, my Mr Elric, you look even worse then Mr Potter usually does after a trip by Floo." At the deceptively mild tone of the headmistresses voice, Ed threw a sour look at her and saw the amusement in her eyes.

"It would have been nice if someone thought to warn me about the spinning." He muttered darkly, managing to straighten himself up with an effort, his lunch still threatening to make a reappearance.

Catching Harry's eye he smirked, "I wonder how the Colonel would handle that experience." He commented mildly.

Harry snorted and his green eyes flashed with amusement, "You, Edward Elric, really should be a Slytherin you know."

Ed's felt an eveil grin spread across his face and his eyes flickered to the headmistress as he delivered his retort, "So should you. I have no idea what it was thinking placing you in Gryffindor. The schemes you are capable of coming up with are worthy of a fully fledged snake."

He had to hold back on a bark of laughter at the response to his words. McGonagall looked positively scandalous, Ginny mildly horrified and Ron out and out mortified. The smirk on Harry's face one the other hand was every bit as evil as the one gracing his and Ed could see wicked amusement reflected in his bright green eyes.

"That, Mr Elric, would be passing on secrets." He stated in return and this time Ed did laugh, Harry along with him, as the three true Gryffindors' in the room actually went green with shock.

Once Ed regained control of his stomach, the four of them headed up to the tower, seeing as it was already rather late in the afternoon. Harry seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as they walked and Ron didn't really seem in a talkative mood, so Ed turned his attention to the problem he faced in gaining useful information to report to the Colonel the next time he contacted him. He had yet to hear from his brother, and he would like to have something to add from his end of things if Al managed to come through with some useful intel.

He was distracted from his thoughts as they reached the fat lady's portrait and the painting refused Ron's password.

Before the redhead could really get would up however, Hermione came down the corridor.

"Harry! Ginny! Ed!" she called, rushing up to them, completely ignoring Ron's existence altogether. "I've got something for you Harry. Oh, hang on the new password is Abstinence."

As they stepped through Ed touched Harry's sleeve, "I'll catch up with you later, there is something I need to look into." He told him softly. A thought had occurred to him at the password change and he wanted to talk to the headmaster. Harry nodded in understanding and Ed slipped back out, not even bothering to acknowledge the paintings grumbling at having to open twice. In his mind it looked as though she had indulged too much over Christmas, though how a painting could become drunk was beyond him, and as far as he was concerned it was self inflicted, so she really didn't have anything to complain about.

As he made his way through the corridors towards the headmasters office he mused on what needed to be done. First things first was to take care of this little problem, then he would see about talking to Snape. As much as he hated to admit it, Harry had a point about the man being in a unique position to pass on information on the movements of the enemy. It didn't take him long to reach the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to Dumbledore's office, and he came out of his plans to glare mildly at the thing in annoyance for a moment. He hadn't thought to ask Hermione for the password. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the stone statue and he decided to put to the test a theory that had come to him a while ago when Harry had commented on the Headmasters rather strange ability to know who was at his door before you even knocked.

Looking the gargoyle dead in the eye he raised his eyebrow and commented mildly, "Headmaster, if you so not wish for me to turn your guardian into a pile of pebbles, I suggest you tell it to move." There was a moment of silence then he swore the statue winked at him before leaping aside. Rolling his eyes and excentric wizards, eh climbed the revolving stairs and pushed open the door at the top.

The headmaster gave him a smile as he entered, a smile that grew as his eyes travelled up to Ed's hair and the alchemist rolled his eyes again. If he ever got hold of the Weasley twins before he went home, he would make sure to borrow one of Mustangs gloves and make the fiery colour of their hair the real thing. Stupid untested prank.

"So, Mr Elric. I trust you enjoyed your holiday with the Weasley family?" the headmaster asked him mildly. Ed snorted and dropped himself into the chair in front of the old man's desk, "yeah, real fun. Up until a prank the twins aloud me to borrow for my assessment blew up in my face. I don't suppose you could do something about this?" he pointed rather sharply at his bright pink hair. Despite the reassurances of both twins that it would wear off eventually it hadn't faded on bit.  
The headmaster chuckled softly and waved his hand. Drawing a lock over his shoulder to study it carefully, Ed let out a sigh of relief, "Just out of curiosity, how long would that spell have lasted?" he asked.

Dumbledore shook his head and sat back in his chair, his eyes twinkling merrily behind his spectacles, "Oh, not too long." He answered easily, "No more then a moth at least."

Ed stared at him in shock for a full five seconds before muttering darkly to himself, _must borrow one of Mustangs gloves._

"so, Mr Elric." The headmaster interrupted his mild rant, "What was it you wanted to see my about. I do not think you came all the way here for me to fix your hair and for your to threaten my gargoyle."

Ed sorted and stretched his legs out in front of him, letting the sleeves of his school robes fall back from his gloved hands, "As a matter of fact, the gargoyle is part of what I wanted to discuss with you." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him and crossed his feet, "The fact of the matter is, sir, that things are looking more and more dangerous and I'm afraid that there are a few things that I may have to look in to. But to do that I am going to need access to the passwords on all the paintings. the protections placed through the password system greatly hinder my movements and there will be a need for me to have access to the whole castle if things turn as bad as I think they will."

The headmaster studied him seriously for a moment, his face grave, "I think that you are right, Mr Elric." He said at last, "There is much more going on that any of us has been truly able to discover. And you are also correct, the passwords will make things hard for you." Reaching into his drawer he drew out a small card, much the same as the two passes that Ed already carried in his pocket, "This will allow you entrance to any of the secret passages and rooms, all you have to know is where the entrances are, and I think you could ask Mr Potter about that point."

Somehow it didn't surprise Ed to know the old man was aware of the fact that Harry knew the castle like the back of his hand. Reaching out, he took the pass from Dumbledore and slipped it into his pocket, "There are a few more things I will be putting into motion." He told the old man before him, "I have asked Harry to talk to you about collecting some information for me, he knows the details of what I am after. In the mean time, I am going to have to be talking to a few others as well."

The headmaster studied him gravely and Ed returned his look, his gold eyes flashing, "This situation is becoming dangerous." He repeated, "I am under orders not to reveal details, but you might want to contact the Colonel. I think it is time we got to the bottom of exactly why we are here. After all, why is it that after all this time that you have had trouble with Voldemort, you suddenly decide to go for outside help. And how in the world did you know about us."

His words seemed to touch a nerve for Dumbledore's eyes narrowed and he became thoughtful, "Truly, young Edward, there does seem to be more going on here then even I first thought. I contacted your government on the advise of an informant who told me of the possibility of gaining help from a power that is completely foreign to what we know. After all, the alchemy that you and the Colonel are capable of would definitely tip the scales in our favour. But I too have a feeling that there is something very strange about everything that has been happened." He straightened his shoulders suddenly and his eyes flashed, "I'll talk to your superior officer as soon as I can, and I am meeting with Harry tonight. He can report to you on what he learns and I give you permission to do what ever you deep necessary to get to the bottom of things within these walls. Good luck Mr Elric."

Ed nodded at the clear dismissal and slipped back down the stairs.

First things first, he needed to find Snape.

……………………..

AN/ As always, big thank you for your reviews and your patience. I actually managed to break 600, brilliant. Anyway, I will try and complete another chapter after work tonight but it depends on how late I get home.

But, until then,

See Ya.


	28. Ch 28: It's a Question of Loyalty

AN: Hey there, here it is finally. This was so hard to get written for some reason. This section of the story is getting more complicated and I have had to write out a map of all the intrigues that are going on (lol). Anyway, uni has taken up much of my time an on top of that the writers block would not go away. I think I have managed to overcome it, hopefully. Well, I'll put a brief review of what has happened so far, seeing as it has been so long (sorry, by the way), well, here we go. Oh, and much of the Alchemist stuff will be a little jumbled from the real timeline as it has been along time since I have seen it and I have only just started to read the Manga but I will try to keep it as true to the story as I can.

Disclaimer: hmm, as usual, not mine, either of them

_**What came before:** Harry has had his meeting with the minister (see half blood prince) and Ed has been put through his paces in a new battle assessment that ended with Mustang winning (again) and Ed with pink hair ( that the Headmaster kindly changed back). Meanwhile, Ed received a letter from Al letting him know that things back home are very suspicious and that there was some confusion about Hughes. After confronting Mustang, Ed has learnt of Hughes death and the three of them, Ed Mustang and Hawkeye, are now on alert as there is more to what is going on then they originally thought. Mustang is being blocked in his investigations by higher ups in the military and there is some question as to why they were sent to help the British wizards in the first place. _

_Ed has asked Remus Lupin to keep an eye on Envy for him and he has been ordered to investigate more deeply into what is going on. Dumbledore has given him free access to all parts of the castle and Mustang is attempting to ferret out more information on his end._

_And so the fun continues!_

**Chapter 28: It's a Question of Loyalty**

The report that the Elric brothers had given on their suspicions about what was going on back home coupled with the reports he was getting from his own subordinates had left Mustang feeling more than a little uneasy. Not only that but he had been wondering ever since they had received their order just who it was who had offered their services to the British Ministry of Magic in the first place.

The anonymity of their country was one of the main security defences they had, ensuring that the other countries of the world did not interfere with them in any way. After all, how can you interfere in the politics of a country that you do not know exists?

All in all, Amestris was marked off on the world maps as an uninhabitable 'no go' zone, leaving only select people within the defence departments of the higher world powers aware of its existence. Those that did notice simply passed them off as one of the world's unimportant, 'third world' districts that was strife with civil war but wasn't enough of a threat to interfere with. After all, they were at least eight or nine decades behind technology wise; this being one point where Ed would snort in disgust and be one of the rare occasions where Mustang agreed with him. They may be behind in what the rest of the world considers science but their research and development into alchemic science had far more explosive potential then anything the rest of the world was coming up with. After all, having individuals capable of taking out a whole city block with nothing more then a piece of chalk was more then a little worrying.

With these thoughts in mind, Mustang stepped out of the fireplace after 'flooing' from the Weasley's home, Hawkeye as ever on his heals. Looking around the disorganised crew that had been assigned to him while he was there, he frowned in annoyance and headed straight through to his own office.

Sitting behind his desk, he waited until Hawkeye closed the door behind her then spoke, "I need for you to contact the office, get the others to investigate the rumours that Fullmetal mentioned." He ordered, staring at the office door as if to gain the answers he was seeking, "Also, tell them not to interfere with Alphonse Elric at all, or with the ones he is working with. The more people we have on this the better and that group has an uncanny ability to ferret out secrets."

Nodding her head once in acknowledgement, Hawkeye snapped off a salute and whirled on her heal to carry out his orders.

As her hand touched the door handle he offered one more message, on that he knew she would understand, "And lieutenant, tell them to keep their investigations discreet."

Without a word she left to follow her orders and he sat back in his chair, knowing she understood. That final message meant that he was suspicious of what the higher powers within the government were up to and he was calling on their loyalty to him over their loyalty to the military. If things were really as messy as it was starting to appear, he wanted to be as prepared as possible when everything blew up.

He smirked to himself at that particular analogy as he straightened and reached for one of the stacks of paper on his desk. After all, with the Elric brothers investigating, it was almost guaranteed to be something more then unsubstantiated rumours and it was also guaranteed that everything was going to go sky high before this was over.

After leaving the Headmaster's office, Ed headed up to the Gryffindor Tower. There was something he wanted to look into before he searched out the potions master and to do so he needed to get his hands on a certain map.

Entering the portrait hole he found Ron cornered off to one side by Lavender Brown and Ed rolled his eyes as it looked as though the girl was trying to devour the redheads face. Glancing around, he caught sight of Harry in one of the chairs by the fire and made his way over to him.

The other boy glanced up as he reached him and offered a weary smile, his gaze flickering over to the corner where Ron was, "I wish that Ron would get a clue for once, because between him and Hermione they are going to drive me nuts." He offered cryptically.

Ed followed his glance and rolled his eyes, before taking a seat across from him, "I need a favour." He said softly.

Harry turned his gaze back to him and raised an eyebrow in query, "I need to take a look at that map of yours." He explained, "There are entrances into this school that are not secure and I want to make sure that they are covered in the security measures." Here he grimaced in apology, "You might want to keep that in mind if you use any of them as well."

After a moment, Harry nodded his head, "I can see the sense in that." He muttered. Tilting his head, he indicated that Ed should follow him and led the way up into the sixth year boy's dorm, "I just hope you are not planning to inform all the teachers of the location of the secret passages, otherwise you will be ruining the fun of generations of children to come." He told him, his tone half serious as he dug into the trunk at the end of his bed.

Ed snorted in reply and took the map as Harry held it out to him. Watching with fascination as the lines of Hogwarts drew themselves onto the parchment after Harry intoned the password, he absently answered, "Not likely. The less who know the better, besides I have a feeling that at least the headmaster knows where they are, after all he seems to know pretty much everything there is about the castle. I just want to make sure that I know where everything is. After all, having access to the entire castle does not help if you are constantly getting lost."

Ignoring the curious glance that Harry gave him, Ed scanned the map, making sure he memorised every secret passage, even the ones that he had been told were impassable. He also took note of where the 'Room of Requirement' the others had told him of was. Even though the room did not appear on the map itself he had a good idea of where it was.

He also noted that one particular dot was wandering a part of the halls that it was not supposed to be in.

Frowning slightly in thought, he thanked Harry absently not even noticing the young wizard shaking his head in exasperation as he left the dormitory. He crossed the common room without even looking around and headed back out through the portrait hole.

He put off his search for Snape for the moment in favour of tracking down another target. After all, if Malfoy was wandering the corridors instead of haunting the dungeons as he was supposed to be doing, and without his two goons then that was something he _had_ to look into.

It didn't take him long to reach the corridors where he had seen the Slytherin's name on the map and he consciously lightened his steps, hoping to go unnoticed, for once glad that Al wasn't with him. After all, he thought ruefully, the clanking that his brother made simply moving, let alone walking made sneaking around almost impossible.

Ahead of him he thought he caught the sound of muttering and he slipped up to the corner before cautiously cocking his head around the corner. What he saw had him frowning in thought.

Draco Malfoy, the cool headed Slytherin Prince was stalking back and forth in the corridor, his white blond hair looking more like Harry's normal mop then its usual sleek appearance. His face was drawn and paler then usual, and there were dark circles under his eyes. But it was the look on his face that caused Ed to pause. It was pure, unrelieved desperation.

Narrowing his eyes, Ed stepped around the corner and the Slytherin instantly crouched, his wand drawn and pointed at the intruder's heart. Seeing who he was confronting, his straightened his back and sneered and even though he lowered his wand his did not put it away.

"What do you want, Elric." He almost snarled.

Ed merely raised an eyebrow and swept his gaze over the other boy. His uniform was slightly skewed and on closer inspection, Ed saw that the boy's grey eyes were bloodshot and almost dead in appearance. The sneer on his face held little of its usual potency as well.

"I don't know Malfoy, why don't you tell me what you were just muttering about." He answered softly, narrowing his eyes. There was more here going on then the usual plotting the other student engaged in, one of the bigger clues being that the Slytherin was alone instead of flanked by his two muscle bound guards. The almost defeated look in his eyes didn't reassure him at all either. He knew for a fact that cornering a snake was never a good idea and it looked as though Draco was being backed into something that he couldn't fight his way out of.

The other boy stared at him a moment in silence then all but hissed at him, "Mind your own business, Alchemist, and keep your nose out of things you could not possibly understand."

The Slytherin prince brushed passed him and stalked back down the corridor, heading in the direction of the dungeons and Ed just let him go. For all the snarl in the boy's voice, the young Alchemist had caught the desperation under it and he knew that his suspicions had some truth in them. There was definitely something going on, something that could very well cause some serious problems.

Forgoing following the Slytherin, he turned on his heal and went in search of one of the order members he was sure to be able to find without too much trouble. He needed to speak with Snape, and soon, but even though he had fixated on Malfoy's position when studying Harry's map, there was something else he had noted as well; Snape was not in the castle.

He needed to set up a meeting with a few other contacts as well. There were too many variables for him to be comfortable with. He needed more information.

The question of Snape's loyalties was a huge stumbling block and one that he was growing more frustrated with. He was at a point where he was going to confront the Headmaster directly over the matter if he had to but he would rather speak with the man first, even if he was a colossal pain in the arse.

He also needed to know about Envy's movements, he had not had a chance to set up much of a plan for Remus to get information to him if he found anything out and he needed to find out from his brother if there were any rumours about the movements of the rest of the Homunculi back home. If he could find out where the others were it would put his mind at ease on one point, that was for sure.

Growling silently in annoyance, he trust his hands into his robe pockets and restrained himself for turning the grumbling picture frames into piles of kindling. If there was one thing he hated, besides being ridiculed, it was missing pieces to a puzzle. Suddenly a grim smile spread across his face as he reached out to knock on the portrait he had finally reached; he may hate not having all the pieces, but the one thing he loved above all else was a challenge.

Stepping back, he waited for Professor McGonagall to open her door: time to start putting the puzzle together.

……………………………

AN: hmmm, a bit shorter then normal I think, but the next section needs to be in a different chapter. I sincerely apologise for the wait, but there is more coming, I assure you. This is where things become more serious and the crossover of the two storylines becomes a little harder to juggle, (heh). Anyway, thank you for your patience and all your wonderful reviews. I hope this chapter lives up to the rest and that I have not lost too many of you due to the wait.

See Ya

Sil'vinya


	29. Ch 29: Poisons

AN/ Hey there, as you can see I haven't died. Thank you all for your patience on this one I know the wait has been more then long. Real life got in the way for a while then writers block then the lovely distraction of some real good stories I found. Heh talk about guilty, I have neglected this terribly. Hope to change that. Anyway, this chapter comes in just after Christmas, aligning with chapter 17/18 of HBP if you are interested. Just a reminder, in the FMA timeline it is just after Ed Killed Greed but before he meets up with his father again (I need to go through again to make sure I get the details right when I bring more of the FMA universe into this). Anyway, onto the chapter, just a bit of Ed hitting research mode again, this time in potions class. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Full Metal Alchemist are not mine (unfortunately) I am just borrowing the wonderful characters for a while.

**Chapter 29: Poisons**

Professor McGonagall didn't look overly surprised to see him as she opened her door to his knock even though she knew that they had not long since returned from Christmas break. She invited him in and gestured for him to take a seat across from her desk before sitting and casting a questioning look at him. Taking a breath, Ed ran his hand through his hair and frowned, "I'm not sure how much the headmaster has told you," he began and McGonagall held up a hand to stop him,

"I assure you, Mr Elric," she interrupted, "The Headmaster has informed me of precisely why you are here. I also know of the investigations you are conducting as I am under orders to pass on any information we are able to uncover over the whole necklace incident."

Sighing in relief, Ed nodded, "That makes things infinitely easier." He commented. "I need to get in touch with some of the other orders members and I especially need to speak to Professor Snape. I have managed to find out some interesting facts but there are too many holes in my information for me to make any sort of informed report. I was wondering of you had any idea where I could find him."

The head of Gryffindor studied him silently for a moment, her face giving nothing away through its normal stern expression, "All I can tell you at present Mr Elric is that Severus is on order business at present. You might want to speak to the headmaster as he always meets him once he gets back so he might have some idea on when to expect him."

Ed nodded in thanks and stood up to leave, before he voice stopped him as he reached for the door handle, "Be careful Mr Elric." She advised him as he slipped out the door.

His plans of tracking down Snape thwarted for the moment, Ed headed back up to the dormitories with the thought of putting his research in order and trying to put some of his investigations in some sort of report to send to Mustang.

He didn't see Harry or Hermione in the common room, though after catching sight of Ron trying to suck the face of his girlfriend that hardly surprised him, so he headed straight up to the boys dormitory and retrieved his file from the bottom of his trunk.

Harry returned later that evening after the others in their dormitory had gone to bed. Ed had moved his paperwork down into the common room by that stage to avoid disturbing the others and he looked up as the portrait opened to reveal a thoughtful looking Harry. Seeing him sitting on the rug before the fire surrounded by piles of paper and books, the young wizard made his way over and slumped into the chair across from where he sat.

"So what did the old man have to say this time?" Ed asked him, not even looking up from the notes alchemic shields he was sorting through.

The other boy settled back in the chair and snorted, "He showed me a bunch of memories about Lord Moron's, as you so appropriately called him, past. Showed me his family and what happened to them. Told me how he hunted down his muggle father and grandparents and framed his crazy for their murder. There was also a big thing about a ring that he took, but the rest of it is probably what would be of use to you." At that Ed raised his head and gave him his full attention. He knew that if Harry was bringing this information to him then he thought that it would be of use to his duties here.

Harry rubbed at his eyes under his glasses then frowned and Ed could see the stress in the other face, "Dumbledore showed me another memory." He said slowly, "This one he collected from Slughorn." He met Ed's eyes and the Alchemist raised an eye brow in question.

Harry shook his head, "Yeah I know, hard to believe the idiot could be anything but useless, and in this case he proves himself once again. It was about when Tom was still in school, he came to Slughorn with a question about something called a Horcrux and this is where the memory goes odd. It all goes blank and all you could hear was Slughorn rounding him out about it, telling him to leave and never mention the conversation again. It is so obviously tampered with I don't know why the man bother but the thing is the Headmaster believes it is vitally important."

Ed frowned slightly at the reference, the word Horcrux stirring a memory in him that he couldn't catch at present but he could see by Harry's face that there was more, "Let me guess. " he muttered, stretching his arms above head and feeling his flesh shoulder crack, "The old man wants you to get the full memory from the Slug."

Harry glanced over in surprise then shook his head, "You know, sometimes I forget just what you do for a living." He said in amusement, "Your even better at that then Hermione is."

Ed shrugged and leaned back on his hands, "Eh, comes with the territory. As far as I see it you're going to have to work that one carefully. The man has made it is entire existence to look out for his own interests. If there is something in that memory that could damage him in any way then you are going to have a hard time wrestling it out of him."

Harry pulled off his glasses and cleaned them on his robe with a sigh, "I know. I'm not sure how I am going to go about this one but I'm going to talk to Ron and Hermione tomorrow, see if they have any ideas that can help." Putting his glasses back on, he checked the time and stood up, "I'm heading off to bed. Don't stay up too late, you have class in the morning remember."

Ed waved him off and turned his attention back to his notes, storing what Harry had told him in the back of his memory. He would see what he could dig up with Horcrux reference as soon as he could. He had a feeling he had come across it before and he also had the feeling that it would be a good idea to remember exactly where he had seen it.

The next morning saw Harry trying to get an opinion out of his friends even though the two others still wouldn't have anything to do with each other. Ed merely shook his head and ignored them, going over in his mind everything he could have read that might have anything to do with a subject that might be of interest to a demented evil wizard. Unfortunately he could come up with a lot. He hadn't managed to come up with an answer by the time they headed to class and he followed along behind the other three, his mind still puzzling over the problem.

Once they had settled down at their desk, Hermione sitting around the other side next to Ed instead of with the other two as she normally would, Ed shook it from his mind. If he kept obsessing over it he would never remember, best to turn his mind to something else for the moment, so he turned his attention to the Professor as the man called for the class to face forward.

"Settle down, settle down please. Now, Golpalott's Third Law, who can tell me, but of course Miss Granger can!"

Hermione recited at top speed while Ed watched her in bemusement, "Golpalott's-Third-Law-states-that-the-antidote-for-a-blended-poison-will-be-equal-to-more-then-the-sum-of-the-antidotes-to-the-separate-componants."

Ed shook his head at the glazed looks that came over nearly everyone's face as the Professor went on to describe how to select antidotes for the separate components making sure to take into account the reactions of each component on the others as well as the reactions of the ingredients within the antidotes themselves. As the man had mentioned himself the entire process was practically alchemic and he could see within his mind the formulas and equations he would need to break down the poisons mentioned as well as finding the elemental structure of the antidote that would be needed to counter the effects. As the man lectured, Ed pulled out his note book and potions text and started in on his equations. He had taken many notes in his textbook after he had first brought it, using some of the other books that Mustang had aloud him to buy and he had noted down chemical and elemental notations for most of the common ingredients that they would be using within this class. By the time the professor called them up to collect the poison they would be working on his was already half way to the solutions needed. As he stood in line with the rest of the class to collect his vial, he continued to go over his notations, ignoring the odd looks he was getting. Reaching the teachers desk he looked up from his note book at the mans voice.

"I am interested to see how you handle this one Mr Elric." The man said cheerfully. Ed offered him a slightly blank look, his mind still working over the problem, "The principles of Alchemy," he stated almost by rote, "Breakdown, analysis, reconstruction. All I need to do is make sure I separate the components properly then analyse the chemical structure of the ingredients as well as those of the other common antidotes used." Ignoring the slightly puzzled look on the mans face he took one of the vials and went back to his desk. Hermione was already hard at work distilling her poison and casting soundless identification spells over her cauldron where the rest of the table seemed to have trouble even working out where to begin.

Turning to his own poison, he laid out the calculations he had made and swiftly sketched out an array that corresponded with his notations. Placing a shallow dish on the desk he carefully poured the poison into it then placed the dish on the piece of parchment. He had to be careful to take into account the dish as well but in the end it wasn't too difficult. If he did this without a circle he would still have had to take everything into account this way the methods just had to go on paper first. Glancing back over his notations he nodded once then touched the edge of the circle. As it was supposed to, the array broke down the poison into its component parts, and separated the dish into ten separate saucers each holding and individual ingredient. Going through them he listed on his notebook each of the ingredients as he identified them and then listed the chemical breakdown of each. He could see Hermione casting interest glances at him as he worked but he ignored her, reveling in the challenge. It had been w wile since he did some pure alchemic research and he was enjoying it.

Once he was done he went through the list of antidotes and noted their components coming up with a few that would be of use but not one that neautralised the whole thing. Instead he pulled his notebook to him and skimming the pages of his potions text along with the notes he had taken from his other books he scribbled down a formula that would be of much more use. Once he had a clear idea what he was doing, he went to the stores cupboard and brought back everything he would need before creating the antidote the same way he had done with the Draught of Living Death that first lesson.

Once he had done that the skimmed through the list of poison he had collected and noted down the actual poison at the top of the page.

Sitting back in satisfaction he looked around at the others. Hermione was working away decanting the components that she had manage to separate into ten different glass vials, she was by far the most ahead. The others had various coloured substances in their cauldrons and he had to hold back a snicker at the various scowls on their faces. Harry was sitting across from him a thoughtful frown on his face as he skimmed his textbook and Ed remembered that the other boy had in his possession the notes of an unknown researcher. He would have to ask him later if he would look through it, it might contain some interesting information.

As the professor called for two minutes left, Harry hurried over to the store cupboard and Ed raised his eyebrow in curiosity, what was he up to?

"And time's up." Slughorn called. The man went around the room looking into cauldrons and making comments. He backed away from Ron's trying not to gag and when he reached Harry, the he was presented with a shrivelled looking seed nestled in the boy's palm. The teacher looked at him for a full minute then roared with laughter, complimenting him on his gumption and on his forethought, revealing that a bezour, apparently that is what the thing was, would surely be effected against all the poisons they were analysing. Ed happened to catch sight of both Hermione's and Draco Malfoy's expressions as the Professor continued on and he shook his head. He could understand their annoyance at being looked over after all the work they had put in but he couldn't see why they would care if they had this morons acceptance.

At last the man came to Ed's desk and looked at the neat glass vial sitting on the table, "And what is this Mr Elric?" he asked finally.

Ed picked up the bottle and turned it in his hands, "The poison you gave me has three normal cures that could be safely used," he explained, flipping his text book to the right page and pointed out the ones he was talking about, "However, each of them has their drawbacks so I broke the poison down further and countered each ingredient first and then took into account the different reactions of …." As he continued to explain he could see the glazed look come over nearly ever face in the room including the Professor and again he held back a smirk, how he loved confusing people. His explanation was cut short by the bell ringing and he packed away his things along with the rest of the class. He made his way up to lunch noticing as he did so that Harry was not with them. Figuring he was going to confront Slughorn on the tampered memory, he waited in the hall for him, turning his mind to what he had to do now. He still had to speak with Snape as soon as he got the chance, he also wanted to look into the situation with Malfoy. There was something going on their as well. And he wanted to look into references on Horcruxes, if and when Harry managed to wheedle that memory out of the potion s teacher he planed to add that information to his growing investigation. There was something there, something he couldn't quiet grasp yet. All this research and information into Lord Moron's past, the introduction of Envy into the picture, he was sure there was something he was missing, some big part that would tie all this together. Standing in the hallway waiting for Harry, Ed smiled to himself, he did so love a challenge.

…………………………………..

AN/Yay, there we go finally. There have been a few questions about Al in all of this and I wont tell you too much as it will give everything away but he will be coming into the saga once the storied merge even more. Just a point of warning I suppose, this is going to be a loooooonnng story heh. Very big thanks for all your patience and for sticking with me through that rather nasty dry spell but hopefully I up and running again.

See Ya


	30. Ch 30: Horcruxes and Apparition Horrors

**AN/** well, here it is at last. I know, horribly long wait. I have no excuse, just lost the plot on this one for a while. But everything is back on track again, hopefully.

NOTE: if you are curious this is during the first half of chapter 18 in the book, so we are about half way through.

You may want to read back over the last chapters if you cannot remember where we are up to but if you don't feel like it, Harry is making his first attempt to speak to Slughorn about that memory, and Ed is planning on tracking down Snape and keeping an eye on Malfoy. Oh, and Ron and Hermione are being annoying again. Heh.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKRowling and Edward and Mustang are the property of the proud owners of Full Metal Alchemist, which sadly is not me.

**Ch 30: Horcruxes and Apparition Horrors**

After a few moments Harry was all but thrown form the classroom and the door slammed firmly shut behind him. Ed pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the young wizard and smirked at the frustrated look the other boy threw at the solid barrier. "I take it he didn't want to cooperate." He said mildly.

Harry glared at him then rolled his eyes, "This is going to take longer then I thought." He sighed, shaking his head he frowned at the closed door again, "He went off the deep end when I asked actually."

Ed hummed in thought as the two of them headed up to the great hall, looked as though there was something to this whole memory thing, just as the Headmaster seemed to suspect. "I think you should wait a few days." He offered to Harry and the other boy sighed them nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, maybe if I corner him after one of his parties I might get somewhere."

Ed nodded but thought that perhaps Harry was going to have to approach the matter in a different manner then his usual head on approach.

The two of them joined Ron and Hermione at he Gryffindor table and Harry informed them off his failed attempt to get information out of the Potions Professor. Their responses frankly surprised Ed who was used to working with his brother who, even if he didn't agree with what he had done, was at least rational and logical in his reasons most of the time. These two, however, seemed to totally miss the point and harp on about things that were so inconsequential to the matter at hand that Ed was rather sceptical that they could get anything worthwhile accomplished. Hermione seemed bent on hauling Harry over the coals for getting goods marks in class without actually doing any if the work. After all, according to her, the whole point of the class was to be able to identify and neutralise specific poisons. Harry eventually seemed to have enough of her lecturing him and turned his attention to Ron who soon exasperated him as well by going into a suck because Harry hadn't given him a Bezour as well. "it would have looked suspicious if we had both done it." He explained before giving up and turning his attention to his lunch instead.

Over the next few days, Ed didn't get the chance to speak to Snape and neither sis Harry get another opportunity to speak with Slughorn so they spent much of their time in the library looking for any mention of Horcuxes.

Ed even when so far as to contact Roy at the ministry to see if the Colonel could track down some reference material that he couldn't due to his current position as a student.

He was skimming through some of the books he had been sent when Hermione lay down the book she was reading through

"I haven't found a single explanation of what Horcruxes do." She almost growled, "Not a single one! I've already been through the restricted section…" here Ed rolled his eyes, he had told her days ago that she wouldn't find anything as he had already searched but she was determined that only she was thorough enough to not miss something. That had rankled him a bit as it his awfully close to her questioning his research abilities.

"All I have been able to find is this," Hermione was saying as he turned his attention back to her semi rant. She flipped open the book she had just closed, "The introduction to _Magic Moste Evile_ – listen – "of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak or give direction"… I mean, why mention it then?" her impatience transferred in her slamming of the books cover and it let out a ghostly wail, something Ed would never get used to. He didn't particularly like books that actually screamed at you. "Oh shut up." The young witch snapped, shoving the book back into her bag.

Ed was having a little more luck in his research and the more he uncovered, the more alarmed he became. There was nothing overt mentioned in many of the texts that he skimmed through but the picture that he was beginning to pieced together was becoming rather uncomfortably familiar but in a rather sinister way. From what he could deduce these Horcruxes seemed to be the magical equivalent to what he had done to save his brothers soul but instead of attaching a disassociated soul to a solid object as he had done, it seemed this process involved tearing parts of the soul from a living body, essentially ripping apart the very core of ones life force to anchor the rest of the soul to the living world if you were killed. He didn't want to tell the others what he had uncovered, not yet, as he needed to look into the matter more. If this was indeed similar to the soul bonding he had done, he may be able to come up with some way to reverse the process if Voldemort had indeed resorted to using the technique. He was rather uncomfortable with the implications however. The whole point behind the process was to achieve a state of almost immortality but when he had bound his brothers soul he hadn't even thought of the consequences of his brother being in a metal body. His body did not age, he couldn't be hurt, but how long could the soul live like that when it is essentially still alive? He had run into a few ghosts in the castle and their very existence had disturbed him greatly, not because of fear but out of confusion over the difference between them at what his brother essentially was.

Sitting back in his chair he tuned out the arguing of the three magical students sitting across from him and pondered the situation. He would have to look into the theory on ghosts and such if he could as well, there might be something that he could find that would better help him to understand his Brothers position. Another thing that had him thinking hard as well was the descriptions that Harry had given him over Lord Moron's resurrection. As he had told Harry, what Voldemort had done was different to what he and his brother had tried in that the Dark idiot had created a body to house his still living soul. If he could uncover the theories that the evil bastard had used, there may be a chance that he could come up with a way to do the same for his little brother. There was no way he was going to use the same tactics as the monster, for the same simple reason that neither he nor Al would ever contemplate using the original recipe for the Philosophers stone. There was no point to them regaining their previous bodies if they had to commit such atrocities in order to accomplish it.

Something in his face must have shown that he had found something as Hermione tapped him on the forehead with her wand, "Alright Mr All Fabulous Researcher and Military Operative, what have you found?" she demanded.

Ed snapped back into focus and nearly went cross eyed looking at the tip of the wand still poised between his eyes. Unfortunately he had been so deep in thought that he reacted without thinking at the sudden perceived threat and shoved himself backwards, somersaulting out of his chair and springing to his feet in a fighting crouch, his hands already clapped and an array already planted bright in his mind ready to activate when he slapped his hands on the ground. Luckily he caught the surprised eyes of his wizard friends before he did, otherwise there wouldn't have been much of that section of the library standing.

He snapped a glare at Hermione she took a step back at the flash of his gold eyes and he growled at her in warning, "_Don't_ do that."

She nodded quickly and they all relaxed as Ed straightened from his crouch and drew his chair back up to the desk from where it had crashed to the floor.

"Um, so. Did you find anything?" Hermione asked a little timidly and Ed sighed. Reaching up he rubbed at his eyes with his gloved hand and sat back in his chair again.

"Maybe." He finally answered. He opened his eyes to glared thoughtfully at the desk in front of him, not even noticing the way the others blinked and shifted slightly at his suddenly focused attitude. He had hold of a puzzle and he was going to put it together before he put forth his theories. There were too many things that could be wrong at present for it too be safe to start throwing ideas around. It was obvious that the Headmaster had some idea of what he was dealing with if he had turned Harry onto getting that particular memory from the Potions Professor. It was also clear that he didn't want to cloud Harry's own understanding of the situation with his speculations.

He snapped his gaze back up as Harry cleared his throat carefully and shook his head at the questioning looks they were giving him, "I would rather not discuss it at the moment." He said firmly and shook his head as Hermione opened her mouth to protest, "No," he cut her off, "What I have been looking into may have a heavy impact on what you are researching but at present it is too fragmented to help you at all. The main task that Dumbledore has set is getting that memory, everything else is going to have to wait until you get whatever piece of information that Slughorn has rattling around in that head of his."

Harry reluctantly agreed with him and they left him alone on the matter of his research.

Something else interesting came up over the next week and even though Ed was trying to fins time to investigate more into the Malfoy matter, he was pulled along with the others to their apparition lessons even though he protested that he couldn't apparate as he _was not a wizard_.

As soon as he entered the great hall with them he knew that it was useless to protest and he may as well observe the lesson as both of his targets, Malfoy and Snape, were both in the room as well.

Sighing in defeat, he took up a position leaning against the wall within earshot of Malfoy and tuned in to listen to the blond Slytherin's hissed argument with one of his goons instead of the lesson that held no interest for him at all.

"_I don't know how much longer all right? It's taking much longer then I thought it would."_ He was saying and Ed perked up a bit, '_Here we go.'_ He thought.

The bigger Slytherin opened his mouth to speak but Malfoy cut him off, _"Look, its none of your business what I'm doing Crabbe, you and Goyle just do as your told and keep a look out!"_

Ed fought back a satisfied smile, he knew the blond annoyance was up to something, now if he would just keep talking….

"I tell my friends what I'm up to if I want them to be lookout for me." Harry's voice almost made Ed swear out loud, dammitall, why did he have to e close enough to eavesdrop on this particular conversation.

The moment was lost as the Professors called the students to order and the ministry instructor began to lecture them on the importance of the, 'three D's of Apparition, Destination, Determination and Deliberation.'

Ed had to hold back a laugh at the faces that some of them were pulling as they tried to follow the instructors directions to place themselves into hoops laid out on the floor in front of them.

For the most part, the lesson didn't get very far as the students all ended up falling on their faces instead of apparating themselves.

It wasn't until their forth attempt that anything interesting happened and afterwards Ed would have gladly recall that he could have done without the excitement.

The instructor gave the word for them to try again and a few seconds later a pain filled screech ripped through the air.

Everyone turned to face the noise and froze at the sight of a girl in Hufflepuff robes wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away, where she had started.

The Heads of House converged on her and she was soon reunited with her severed limb and the instructor went on to inform them that separation of random body parts, or '_splinching'_ was the result of being insufficiently _determined._ He then demonstrated the correct technique, but Ed didn't notice any of it. His horrified gaze was still locked on the girl who was still sobbing and patting at her leg to reassure herself that it was actually there.

His mind wavered for a moment and another scene flashed through his mind, his left leg dissolving before the gate, the pain that ripped through him as his limb seemed to just be eaten away by the darkness that had stretched out shadowy hands to claim him and his little brother.

He didn't notice that he had stated to shake and that his breathing had become erratic until Professor McGonagall's voice broke through the fog that gripped his mind, "My goodness, Mr Elric whatever is the matter?"

He stared up at her in shock, his golden eyes wide, before he grabbed minimal control over himself and pushed himself off the wall. Turning sharply, without answering her question, he strode quickly from the room, letting the great doors swing ponderously shut behind him.

……………………….

AN/ well, there it is finally. When I read back over this chapter in HBP I could just picture Ed's reaction to Susan Bones splinching her _left leg _of all limbs. Rather ironic really. The comparisons that come up sometimes in this are rather amusing. Anyway, I at least am back on track of where this is going again. Book seven kind of threw me for a loop in regards to this and I did end up finishing watching the DVD's of FMP. So I had to rethink some of what I was planning. Oh well. Thank you, thank you thank you for all the reviews, and your patience, as well as a big welcome to the new readers, I hope you all are stikll enjoying even after the big wait.

See Ya


	31. Chapter 31: Summons

AN/ Here we go again, things are starting to heat up a bit.

Disclaimer: Full Metal Alchemist is not mine neither is Harry Potter, the characters, places or the part of the plot that corresponds with either one.

**Ch 31: Summons**

Once leaving the Great Hall, Ed turned and headed upwards, not really thinking where he was going until he pushed his way out the door at the top of the Astronomy tower.

Letting the door swing shut, he made his way over to one of the observation benches and sat down heavily, his gaze sweeping out over the vast grounds without really seeing it.

He had managed to go a long time without remembering those events but since being here things seemed to keep conspiring to throw him into situations where old memories rose to slap him in the face.

Not only that but he hadn't heard back from Al in a while and he was beginning to get concerned. After all, he had told him to look into the situation back home and he of all people knew exactly the sort of trouble one could get into for poking ones nose in places it doesn't belong.

With a sigh of frustration, Ed hoisted his left leg up onto the seat beside him and with a quick slap of his hands transmuted the cloth of his trousers to split down the seam, the material slipping off the leg, revealing his boot and the shiny metal of his automail. Slipping off his right glove he sat and stared broodingly at the gleaming metal limbs, going over in his mind again the pain of the gate eating away at his flesh, the despair at having no choice but to seal his brother away as a living suit of metal, then the flash of agony of having the limbs replaced.

Clenching his metal fist he shook his head. His brother thought he was working to restore them both but what he didn't know was that Ed's one and only concern was bringing his brother back. He felt that he himself deserved the pain, the reminder, of his mistakes. Also, after going through so much, the metal limbs had become a part of who he was. The Full Metal Alchemist. He snorted to himself at that, of all the grandiose titles they could have given him. Still, it was how he saw himself now. How others identified him. It wasn't something that he really felt the need to change anymore.

He was broken out of his thoughts by the screech of an owl and he looked up just in time to hold out his metal arm for the large bird to swoop down and perch, holding its leg out imperiously.

Raising his eyebrow, Ed chuckled, "Stupid bird." He muttered, earning himself a nip on the finger and a fierce glare as he removed the letter. Once free of its burden the bird nipped at him again then shoved off his arm back into flight.

Glaring at the retreating bird, Ed muttered a few choice swear words under his breath, rubbing the gloved finger the bird had bitten rather glad he had not taken both of his gloves off.

Turning his attention back to the letter in his hands, he sighed, "What does he want now?" he muttered to himself.

As he slipped his thumb under the wax seal, the door behind him opened an he turned his head slightly to see Harry poke his head out, look around and once catch sight of him, pushing the door the rest of the way open and coming over to join him.

"You took off out of the hall awful fast." The other boy commented as he took a seat on the bench, "I was wondering if you were alright?" he eyed the metal leg that Ed usually went out of his way to keep hidden, even though Harry and the other already knew about it.

Looking down at the gleaming metal, Ed just shook his head, "Just bad memories." He muttered, "Seeing someone else loose their limb, no matter what caused it…" he trailed off but he saw Harry's eyes widen in understanding.

"Still, at least it was her leg and not her head." He said lightly, obviously trying to lightened the mood.

Ed shudder at his rather grim humour, "Arrg," he exclaimed, a rather unpleasant image coming to mind at _that_ suggestion, "Harry that is vile. Is it even possible?"

Harry shrugged, his face twisting into a grimace and Ed wondered if he had imagined the same thing that he had, "No idea," he answered, shuddering slightly, "Though I don't think I would want to find out. What's the letter about?" he nodded to the parchment still in Ed's hands and the Alchemist blinked at the abrupt change in subject then turned his own eyes to the page.

"Don't know. I only just got it before you arrived. It's from the Bastard Colonel though."

Harry flicked his hand, indicating that he should read it and after skimming through the letter, Ed frowned and pushed himself to his feet.

"Something the matter?" Harry asked him as he rose as well and followed as Ed matched back through the doors and towards the Gryffindor Tower.

Ed shook his head as he kept walking, going over the Colonels words in his mind, "I don't know," he answered absently, "I have been summoned, the Colonel seems to think that some thing is coming and he wants to brief me immediately. Although getting to the Ministry might be a problem."

He pushed his way through the Portrait after giving the password and ignoring the other students in the common room, made his way up to the dormitory, Harry behind him. "You could see the Headmaster." He suggested, "There are at least a couple Order members patrolling the grounds, surely one of them could take you."

Ed nodded in agreement, his mind on what he had to do.

Digging into his trunk, he shifted his books and notes out of the way before pulling out a folded pile of dark blue clothes. Without even bothering to leave the room, he shed his school uniform and pulled on the white tank top and the tailored blue Military trousers, changing his heavy boots for the regulation ones that were made to sit over the cuffs of the wide trousers. Lifting the back panel of the bottom part of his uniform, he shook it out then fastened the half skirt like garment to his belt, making sure that it fell neatly. As he shrugged into the short jacket and fastened the front placard, he turned back to find not only Harry watching him curiously but Neville looking at him in shock and Ron staring at his uniform in bemusement.

"Ah, Ed?" Neville asked uncertainly as Ed clipped his watch to his belt and slipped it into his pocket, making sure that the chain hung properly, "What happened to your arm and leg?"

Ed blinked then looked over at the other boy in surprise, of course, he had forgotten that Neville hadn't been told anything. He could see the questions behind his eyes about the uniform as well, but he had obviously chosen the more pressing question to ask first. Not that Ed had time to answer him.

"Talk to Harry, Ron or Hermione about it, they can tell you. Right now though, I have to go." He lifted out the peaked cap that the Colonel had handed him, not that any of them usually used the hat that went with the uniform but the man had instructed him to come in full military uniform. It seemed as though the Colonel believed that he might need the unconscious Authority that a military uniform gave over others, even if they did not particularly like the person wearing it.

Slipping his gloves back on, his tucked the hat under his arm and with a nod to the other boys in the room, turned in his heal and marched back out to the common room. Ron's "Bloody Hell" following him out of the dorm.

The stir he caused in the common room was even greater as every single Gryffindor froze as he walked over to the portrait. He ignored them for the most part, his mind on what the Colonel could possibly have uncovered, the only face he registered was Hermione's worried frown as he slipped out through the entrance.

Stalking through the halls he came across a few students who scattered out of his way, his dark expression coupled with the uniform making people give him wide berth.

Upon reaching the Headmasters office however, he found it empty, so with an oath of frustration he headed for the main entrance, thinking that perhaps he could find one of the guards himself and get them to take him to the ministry.

It was just on evening when he headed out into the grounds and he aimed for the main gates before he caught sight of figures at the edge of the forest and changed his direction.

Once he drew close enough he could make out the bearded form of the headmaster and that black cloaked figure couldn't be anyone else but the resident pain in a arse, Snape, and their discussion did not seem to be a congenial one either. _"Great, that's all I need, to walk into the middle of an argument between those two."_

AS he got closer, he caught the tail end of their discussion.

"You take too much for granted old man. Maybe I don't want to be put through all this anymore, did that ever occur to you? Maybe I have had enough of all this." Snape's voice was weary and Ed blinked at the normally snide man sounding so tired, almost defeated. He was even more surprised at the firm tone of the Headmasters reply.

"You agreed to this remember? There is no backing out now Severus, there is too much at stake. Enough of that for now though, tell me, how are your investigations going into your house over the necklace incident."  
before he could answer however, the Headmaster caught sight of Ed and Raised his hand to stall the other man. Ed could see by the look in the old man's blue eyes that he knew that Ed had overheard some of their conversation, not the Ed was planning on hiding that fact as it looked as though there was more going on here then he was informed of, just as he had thought.

The Defence teacher just glared at him, and Ed had to hold back from rolling his eyes at the man. "Headmaster, Professor." He said neutrally as he came up to them, "I don't know what that was all about but at present I have some thing else I need to take care of. If you remember Headmaster, you were the one to tell me that full disclosure on the matters behind all this that pertain to the safety of Harry or have any impact on Colonel Mustangs investigations. I would hate to think that accidents could happen from you keeping information to yourselves." He met the Headmasters direct gaze and the old man studied him silently for a moment then nodded once in understanding, "I will consider your words, Major Elric." He said gravely, acknowledging the uniform and the fact that Ed was speaking as a military officer in this matter, not as one of the student body.

Ed nodded in reply, noting the surprised and speculative look on Snape's face out of the corner of his eye. "Was there some reason that you came looking for me Major," Dumbledore asked, "After all, I don't think parading around the school in that uniform is exactly helpful in maintaining your cover as a student."

Ed nodded, putting the speculations that had come up over that little discussion aside for now and turning his attention back to his current predicament.

"Yes sir. The Colonel has summoned me to the ministry and has told me to come in full uniform. It seems as though some thing has come up that he did not want to trust to paper and want's to see me immediately. I was wondering if you could spare someone to take me there. I don't know how long I will be but I am sure I will be able to find my own way back."

The Headmaster nodded, "I understand. Severus, if you will?" the man glared at the old wizard who only looked back at him blandly until with a tight nod he agreed before tuning back to Ed, "I will see you when you return, Major. It looks as though there are a few things that we need to discuss." With that he turned on his heal and strode away.

Ed looked up into the dark face of the Professor and cocked an eyebrow in question. The man scowled at him then jerked his head in the direction of the gates, "This way if you will, Mr Elric." He sneered, his eyes flickered over the uniform and some unnamed emotion flickered faintly in his black eyes before vanishing, "Or should I say Major?" he asked mockingly.

Ed snorted as he strode along beside the teacher, his boot heals sounding sharper on the paving stones then the usual heavy clump of his combat boots, "Whatever makes you more secure Professor." He answered just as mockingly, "Although I am going to have to speak to you as well later on." The man threw him a glare and Ed let all joking out of his expression and levelled the man with a cold look. "Look, Snape, as much as you dislike me personally, there is too much going on here that I need to know about. I have multiple pieces of a huge puzzle that could spell not only trouble for your little world but mine as well, so I need all the information that I can get. There is also much about you that I have managed to uncover and I need to verify much of it before I place my trust in you to be able to handle what is top come. If it was just your little wizard pissing contest with the Dark Idiot, I wouldn't even bother, but if this involves what I think it does, we are all in serious trouble." He stared into the mans dark eyes, looking past the blank mask to the calculating mind behind those dark eyes, so like, yet unlike the Colonels, "Think over what I mentioned about the Homunculi that first day of class." He said softly, causing the mans eyes to widen slightly, "I know for a fact that there are some accurate descriptions in some of the research books that I have gathered, they are in the Library under my name. I put my books there to keep them out of the hands of curious students. Take a look at what they say then think about what the goal of the so called wannabe overlord is. I am sure that you will find the answers as enlightening and as disturbing as I did. Be careful Professor, your little war looks to be going in a very dangerous direction."

With that he held out his hand to take the mans robes for him to aparate them to the ministry. Before they flashed out of sight, Ed caught the intense look that the wizard was giving him and nodded to himself, he had the mans attention, it was a start.

………………………….

AN/ Heh heh, the fun is about to begin. Thanks for all your reviews, I hope you enjoy this one.

See Ya


	32. Ch 32: Chaos Begins

AN/ Ok long time no see. Sorry for the long wait and I know this ones a bit shorter then usual but I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I had to read back through this to remember where I was up to and then go through my Alchemist DVDs to work out where I am approximately in the FMA world as well. As I said before I will be playing a little loose with the FMA timeline a bit to get it to fit what I want but I want to keep both stories as accurate as possible. There will be some details that will be out of alignment though unfortunately owning mainly to the fact that where I am in the FMA world, Ed does not have much contact with Mustang so the information that both of them as receiving will be stuff that the other did not find out till later in the anime.

**Disclaimer:** The usual, Full Metal Alchemist and Harry Potter are not mine in any way shape or form. No money is being made from this story and it is all in the spirit of fun .

**Ch 32: Chaos Begins**

Ed growled in annoyance as he was forced to go through the security measures at the entrance once more. If anything this time was even worse. There were guards everywhere and after noticing more than once a wizard making a move to intercept him only to turn to the next person as soon as they took in his uniform he was actually kind of relieved he was wearing it. Like last time, the wizard on duty seemed to have some difficulty in believing that Ed did not carry a wand. He finally got past the idiot, without even having to resort to drastic measures, and made his way briskly to the office that had been assigned to the Colonel.

As he walked, he kept a keen eye on what was going on around him and he almost snorted in disgust. For a people who were apparently at war, the place seemed awfully disorganised, something that did not improve the foreboding feeling he was beginning to get over this entire situation.

Reaching the Colonels door, he was about to enter in his normal fashion, meaning that they would probably need to replace the door, when he heard raised voices within and realised that Mustang had company, and from the sounds of it, company that was not exactly sympathetic to their cause.

"I don't care what you were ordered to do _Colonel_." A slightly familiar voice stated coldly and Ed raised an eyebrow, wasn't often anyone had the brass to use that tone with the Colonel without expecting to be barbequed.

Deciding that he had to be in on this, as there was a good chance that this had something to do with why the Colonel ordered him here in the first place, besides Ed just _had_ to be in the room to watch _this_ unfold, he reached out and rapped smartly on the door, cutting the conversation off rather abruptly.

The door was opened rather swiftly by a rather frazzled Hawkeye and Ed raised an eyebrow at the barely restrained fury in her normally flatly calm eyes.

He thought he saw a flash of relief as well as anticipation in her eyes before she nodded stiffly to him and stepped back, holding the door open to him, "Major Elric, sir." She rapped out.

Ed blinked then stepped into the room, his eyes narrowing as they darted around, taking in the occupants. Hawkeye's reaction had him on edge, something was definitely going on here and he was not going to be caught off guard.

The only other people in the room was the Colonel who sat rather stiffly behind his desk and a tall wizard who swung around a this entrance giving Ed a good look at his face. He barely held back from rolling his eyes at the sight of the _esteemed _Minister of Magic Rufus Skrim something or other. After overhearing the man's little spat with Harry over Christmas he had come to the conclusion that this man was even more useless then some of the military bureaucrats he had come across.

Steadfastly ignoring the man, something he had become rather adept at doing and knew perfectly well drove men in authority _wild_ he stepped passed the steaming wizard up to the Colonels desk and saluted smartly, "You requested to see me Colonel Mustang Sir?" he rapped out. These wizards were beginning to piss him off and he would be damned if he would put up with it any longer. Mustang was his superior, no matter how much he denied it most of the time, and it was rather clear that in this place they were going to need to present a united front. He was starting to wish they had brought more back up, including his brother, even though some part of him was relieved that his little brother was not being exposed to the unknown dangers of this place.

Mustang raised an eyebrow at his display and he narrowed his own eyes saying clearly to the man that he was fed up with wizards in general and was placing himself squarely in the other man's camp. Mustang gave a subtle nod of his head, indicating that he understood and accepted his backing before answering his question. "That I did Major, it seems as though the _esteemed_ Minister here has some rather interesting ideas concerning our duties here." Ed didn't miss the stress that the man put on the word 'esteemed' and he had to hold back a rather wicked grin at the mockery that barely slid through beneath the Colonel's words.

"Sir?" he asked instead and Mustang sat back in his chair, idly tugging at the hem of one of his gloves, resetting it more firmly on his hand, "He is currently here to demand that I turn over any and all information that we have gathered, both within the ministry and the school." His dark eyes snapped to Edwards gold ones and Ed could feel his ire rising in response to the irritation flashing in the other mans eyes, "He especially wants any and all information we have gathered on the Headmaster, Harry Potter and anything that has been going on in regards to our primary mission here."

Here the Minister decided to step in and Ed held back from even looking at the man, as if he was not even in the room. "That's right Mustang, and as I was going to say, you may have the protection of being able to hide behind your uniform as does that woman over there. But the boy is currently attending the Magic school that is under our jurisdiction which places his care in our hands. Meaning that he, by law, must answer any questions put to him by this establishment." The man sounded smug, as if he had managed to outmanoeuvre his opponent, but Mustang merely raised an eyebrow at his statement. "I see." The Colonel stated blandly and Ed had to hold back a snicker at the mocking tone in the man's voice, "I take it that it is the habit of this institution to interrogate children then? Without permission from the child's guardians?"

Ed could almost hear the smug smirk in the minsters voice as he answered, "Normally that would be so. And in the absence of parental consent, consent from the Headmaster and the child's head of house would be enough, but seeing as this is a case that involves the Headmaster we are able to overlook the normal procedures."

Mustang nodded as if in understanding but Ed could see a dark gleam in the man's eyes and he knew that the Colonel was setting the wizard idiot up for a verbal smack down.

"I see minster," he stated calmly and Ed felt the Minster shift as if to come closer to him and he tensed, no matter what Mustang was planning if the man touched him we would get a face full of metal. Before the man sealed the warrant for a broken nose however, Mustang's trademark smirk appeared on his face, "There is something you are over looking however, that I think you should be aware of. Edward here is not under your jurisdiction. While he _is_ currently attending Hogwarts it is not as a student but as an undercover operative. What you lot seem to keep ignoring is the fact that despite his age, Fullmetal here is a fully functioning, ranked member of the military. By putting on that uniform he signed away the protective rights of a child and became an adult in the eyes of my government. He is currently assigned directly under my command and as such cannot be ordered around by anyone here unless it was stated otherwise by my superiors and I know for a fact that it wasn't. So as much as you would like to think that you can demand answers from the Major here, I wish you luck but I will tell you now that the people under my command know the meaning of the word loyalty. There is no way that you could force him to answer when he is under orders not to reveal anything that he learns other than to myself, Lieutenant Hawkeye or the Headmaster. So I suggest that you back down from this attempt to gain intel from us and try and actually restore some order within this ministry of yours."

The man actually seemed to hiss for a moment before he spun on his heal and stalked from the room. As soon as the door slammed shut behind him, Ed could not hold back any longer and began to snicker loudly. Only managing to gain control at the serious look on Mustang's face. Choking back his mirth he glanced around the office and dropped himself down in the visitors chair in front of the Colonel's desk, "So what did you call me down here for anyway?" he asked mildly.

Mustang's dark eyes stayed locked on his face as he answered him, his voice as mild as if he was discussing the weather, "The research you have been doing into magic, have you managed to come up with any ideas on countering spells?"

Ed straightened in his chair and focused on the man's face as he deliberately scanned his dark eyes around the room then brought them back to Ed.

Nodding in understanding, Ed rose to his feet and paced out the room carefully, all the while running the calculations that he would need through his head, making adjustments to them as he went. Finally he stopped in the centre of the room and with a frown of concentration, clapped his hands then touched the stone under his feet. Throughout this process, Mustang and Hawkeye had remained silent, letting him do his job and when the array flashed across the floor, walls and ceiling of the room before fading into the stone, Ed turned to lock eyes with the other alchemist. "I have created the array with minerals in the stone and sunk it into the surface itself," he explained, "It is permanent unless they figure out what I have done and warp the stone itself. You can activate it whenever you wish and it will disrupt any and all spells within this room locked or otherwise, including listening spells."

Mustang nodded once and Ed felt a surge of satisfaction, no snide comments, no questions, just a nod of acknowledgment for his work. High compliment indeed.

Taking his seat again, Ed raised an eyebrow at the Colonel and the man nodded again and frowned, "I am afraid that I have come across some disturbing rumours that I think we need to confirm, unfortunately I no longer trust these _wizards_" he almost sneered the word, "In doing a competent job. There is reason to believe that more than just Envy is here, which has me more than a little concerned seeing as I have received information from home that any and all information in regards to Lab five, Doctor Marco and his research, Tucker, all of it, has been folded up locked and handed over to higher members of the brass who are keeping tight control over all information. Have you managed to get into contact with you brother yet about those records that Maes was researching?"

Ed nodded his head, his mind working overtime with the information that he had been given, "I sent a letter off to him the day after you asked me to" he answered, absently, "I have not gotten an answer yet but I did not expect one for a while considering what they are getting into. I did caution them to be careful however."

Mustang nodded in agreement, "Good, as much as we need that information I will not put your brother or those girls at risk to obtain it. Once you receive word, contact me immediately."

"Agreed." Sitting foreword in his chair, Ed looked from Mustang to Hawkeye then back again, "So what is it that you have in mind on this end of things?" he asked, "I assume that you want some more information on why the homunculi are here and how many of them. What's the plan?"

Mustang studied him carefully for a moment then nodded once to himself, "I think that from here on out things are going to be getting dangerous, Fullmetal," he stated harshly, "I have to know if you are in this all the way." From the way he said it Ed knew that he was not only talking about what was going on here, but back home as well and he knew what the man was asking. The faint smirk on his face was answered by one on Mustang's before both of their faces became blank once more. In that one glance Mustang had asked and Ed had answered. After all, as he said to the Minister, all those under his command knew the meaning of the word loyalty.

"This is what we are going to do."

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AN/ As I always say, I have not much time to edit this stuff so there will be minor errors, I do apologise and I appetite being let know of any mistakes I miss. I will go through the whole thing once it is finished to polish it but not at the moment. Anyway, thank you all for your patience in the long wait, I went to Japan last year for my second internship for uni so did not get much of a chance to write, but hopefully I can make up for that now heh. Thank you all for your fantastic reviews, enjoy.

Ja Ne!!


	33. Ch 33: Into the Fray

**AN/** Hey all, back again. Thanks for your patience. Things are starting to get interesting now. Oh just a side note, I have not watched the series in a long time or read all of the manga and now I have started watching brotherhood so the Alchemist details are probably going to end up a blend of all three as there are aspects in all of them I like so I'm going to have to be creative in some sections, hopefully it works. Anyway enjoy the next installment.

Disclaimer: neither Harry Potter or Full Metal Alchemist are mine in any shape or form, I just like to mix them together heh.

Note: this chapter has not been checked over for mistakes so there are probably a few. Also I have just changed over to windows 7 and a new copy of word so still getting used to the spelling and punctuation checker so this chapter might be a little bit of a minefield of typos. Hopefully not too many though, and I'll go back and fix them later, just trying to get the next few chapters up and going before I loose the plot bunny jumping in my head at the moment. So advance apologies for any mistakes.

**Ch 33: Into the Fray**

Ed scowled as he rubbed his hand across his face, dislodging the drip of water that had been hanging from his nose as he peered out of his hiding place to see if he could make out any movement from the building that he was watching. He could hear faintly off to his right the soft cursing of the Colonel over the rain that made his flame alchemy useless and he knew that Hawkeye was close by to make sure the man did not get himself killed by forgetting that fact. Although the woman seemed to smirk at him when he mentioned the fact, leaving him to believe that between the two of them his devious superior and his sidekick had managed to come up with a few ideas of their own to overcome his supposed weakness.

The information that Mustang had received placed this manor house as one of the bases of operation for the enemy and after seeing the crest that had been over the gate as they had slipped inside made him realize that his interviews once he got back to the school had just gone up another notch in importance. After all, he had seen that same crest on the breast of the casual robes of a certain blond Slytherin.

It had been interesting getting onto the property. From what Mustang had been able to uncover, the place was warded and spelled much like the school. Meaning that technically they should not be able to even see the place let alone enter. But Ed had managed to work his way around that as well. In his studying of the wards around Hogwarts when he was looking into the spell that had affected his limbs so abruptly, he had also looked into the other protections as well, curious about exactly how the school had remained hidden for so long.

He had not been able to change the majority of the wards on the place, but in reality he really didn't have to as most of them had no real bearing on one who did not use magic. But he was able to twist the magic in the anti muggle barriers that made the place invisible to anyone not of magical blood. He had carefully tweaked the underlying energy itself, shaping it carefully to allow them access, much like the spell the headmaster had used to allow him access to the magical barrier at the train station at the beginning of the year. He'd had to be careful as working with base energy was not something he wanted to explore too deeply in this sort of situation as blowing up the place or collapsing the wards completely was not a situation he wanted to place himself in especially with the Colonel and Hawkeye running this mission with him.

As soon as he had made sure of all the alarm spells, he slipped forward, keeping as low to the ground as possible, for once glad he was wearing his uniform instead of his usual red coat which would have been far to visible even as dark as it currently was.

Off to his left he caught sight of slight movement and he knew that the other two had slipped forward at the same time he had. They had worked out their strategy long before they even reached the manor so Ed had no trouble knowing exactly where he was supposed to be and knowing where the others would be as well. They had elected to leave the wizards out of this little jaunt. After all, they did not need the ministry knowing exactly how inventive Ed had gotten with his alchemic counters to their spells. After Ed's talk with the headmaster and the Colonels news about what was going on back home, they had thought it wise to start playing everything very close to the chest.

Making their way across the grounds was a lot easier then they had anticipated. They knew that the wizards were so wrapped up in their spells that all of their protections were based around magic, meaning that they were totally unprepared for an attack by people that had no magic of their own but knew how to work around it.

They did not make their way to the main house but to one of the smaller outbuildings where Ed silently made a door for them to slip inside before sealing it once again behind them, leaving them in a small dark room. Glancing at the Colonel, Ed nodded in response to mans gesture at the floor and quickly clapped his hands and laid them against the stones. This time he only created a small gap, about the size of a matchbox to see if there was any light coming from the room below. The map of the grounds that they had managed to get their hands on showed a series of underground chambers beneath the manor, this one seemed to be the most out of the way of all of them so they had decided to use it as their point of entry. Seeing no light coming from his makeshift peephole, Ed clapped again and created a gap big enough for all of them to silently drop through.

The room around them was completely black and Ed didn't move for a moment, waiting for his eyes to hopefully adjust when a sharp snap came from behind him and a flickering flame lit up the room. Turing slightly Ed raised his eyebrow at the sight of the colonel with a small flame dancing over his fingers and had to bite back on a chuckle as he saw Hawkeye putting a set of wet gloves in her pocket, holding a set of spares in her other hand. He smirked at Mustang who merely raised his nose arrogantly in the air and sniffed. Chuckling to himself Ed turned back to the only door in the room and ignoring the dusty objects around him he slipped up to place his hands on the heavy wood. As he had with the floor above, he created a panel to see through and made it possible to hear as well but instead of just drilling a hole as he had before he created a kind of one way effect so they could see out but from the other side of the door nothing seemed to have changed.

The colonel nodded once in admiration and the two of them glanced through the panel into the hall beyond. The hallway itself was unremarkable but they could see off to the left that there was another doorway, this one obviously more important than an out of the way storage room as there were two guards, one on either side of the closed door. There was also something further down to the right as the heavy door in that direction showed an eerie red glow from the gap beneath the door. Crouching down silently the colonel gave a few short gestures of his hands showing that Ed was to investigate the guarded room while he and Hawkeye checked out the red glow further down. Nodding in agreement Ed clapped, slapped his hands to the ground, then sprang to his feet and was out the door without a sound. The two guards down the hall were conspicuously absent when he reached the door, having been dropped down into their own little private box cells beneath the floor before Ed even opened the door. As a precaution Ed blocked off the corridor leading up into the main house and created his little window in the door once more.

Glancing in the room he swore in shock at the sight of a huge and very familiar set of armour standing in the middle of the room and without even pausing to consider how his brother could have possibly ended up here of all places he transmuted himself through the door and was halfway across the room before the telltale sizzle of spell fire had him tumbling to the side to evade the bright red bolt that shot past where he had been only seconds before.

"It looks as though your hunch was correct after all, creature." A smooth voice drawled and Ed rolled again and vaulted to his feet as another blast hit the stones where he had been, leaving a crater and a scattering of rubble. Snapping his head towards the voice Ed sneered at the blond wizard that was even now pointing his wand at him once again. Turning back to his brother once again he could have hit himself as the metal before him seemed to melt and a familiar voice echoed mockingly in the hollow helmet before turning into a distressingly familiar face, "Really Malfoy you should have more confidence in us." Envy mocked, shaking out the weird points of his hair, "After all it was us that told you of the Fullmetal Pipsqueak and the flame colonel to begin with. Your master would be rather disappointed if we did not deliver on our end of the bargain in getting our hands on two live alchemists for him to study now would he."

While the two of them spoke Ed had tumbled to his feet once more and drawn his metal arm into a blade, standing at ready for either of them to attack. This was not what they had thought to find in coming here but from what Envy was saying their feeling that they were being manipulated was well founded.

Envy stalked up to him and Ed braced himself but all the other did was pat him one the cheek condescendingly, "You and your Colonel are predictable, pipsqueak." He said, his tone still mocking as he circled around him, "All we had to do was tweak a few things on this end to get the ministry to send for aid and then get things organised for your colonel to be placed in charge of the situation and he sends two of the most important people in our plan right into the fray, himself and the fullmetal mouse."

Ed twitched at the names but inside he grew cold at what he was hearing, "What in the hell are you freaks planning?" he demanded, his eyes continuously tracking the homunculus as he circled him and keeping an eye on the elegantly dressed wizard who stood watching the display with a faint smirk on his face.

"Oh I don't think I'll be telling you that one yet pipsqueak." Envy answered pleasantly, running a cool finger over his neck causing Ed to shiver then wince as that hand clamped down hard on the back of his neck, "There are more than our plans at stake here after all. Once the younger Malfoy fulfills his orders the only piece we will be missing is that tin can brother of yours."

At mention of his brother Ed snapped and pulled out of the iron hold on his neck before dropping and sweeping his leg around to catch envy in the back of the knees. The homunculus swore and flipped backwards onto his hands then into a flip that had him landing facing Ed again but at a safer distance. Ed on the other hand had not stopped moving, as soon as he had attacked, the wizard had began shooting spells at him again and he was flipping and twisting out of the way, while bringing walls up out of the ground to block some of the more unfriendly curses.

He had just managed to bring one of his huge stone hand constructs up to wrap around the wizard when a large explosion literally rocked the room. Envy broke off his pursuit of Ed to glance back at the door and swear before giving Ed a jaunty salute. "Looks as though this is going to be cut short again pipsqueak, the flame colonel does not seem to be happy. See you next time." With that he turned and fled out the door, but before Ed could follow another figure staggered through the door and Ed was up and moving in a second to catch Hawkeye as her knees buckled. There was blood all over the front of her uniform and she was as pale as milk. Pulling her further into the room, Ed laid her carefully down behind one of his makeshift walls just as another drawling voice called from the doorway, "It's no use hiding her kid. After all she is expendable."

He glared back at the tall woman who lounged against the door frame, her odd purple eyes with their dead expression looking coolly back at him. "I see you object to my use of that word." Lust observed, tilting her head at the fury on his face, "Mustang did not seem to like it much either. Pity he could not do much about it once I had run him through." She raised her hand and licked delicately at one of the needle sharp extended fingers, the others dripping blood onto the floor at her feet.

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AN/ Ya cliff hanger :P heheh don't worry I won't leave you hanging long next chapter is already half done. Hope you enjoyed this one and thanks to all the reviewers, you guys are fantastic. And to all those who pointed out the errors I missed in the chapters that I edited thanks a bunch, I need to go back over them again once I overhaul this monster. Woo hoo 33 chapters and counting and over 1,100 reviews brilliant .

Ja Ne


	34. Ch 34: Flames of Lust

AN/ I know, very long time since update. I want to thank all of you for being so patient and sticking with this story. I really enjoy writing it and I would hate to see it fail. Also welcome to all the new readers, I am shocked actually, still so many new people even though the update has been what two years or some thing? Ok, here is the next chapter, it's a little short I know but at least it is here. As usual there may be mistakes in spelling etc, so I apologise in advance. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: standard disclaimer applies, Harry Potter and Full Metal Alchemist are not mine, I make no money off this am just having fun with the characters.

**Chapter: 34 The Flames of Lust**

Ed watched as a drop of bright blood dripped from the end of one of those monstrous fingers, seeing it fall in almost slow motion as his brain slowed down at her words.

"_Mustang did not seem to like it much either. Pity he could not do much about it once I had run him through."_

"_It's no use hiding her kid. After all she is expendable."_

That last word echoed in his head as his eyes flickered to the heavily bleeding Hawkeye then back to that blood again. All at once something in his chest snapped and he let loose a feral snarl before leaping at the freak in the doorway, fully intending to smash the smug look off her stupid looking face.

She didn't move until the last second and Ed, taking a slicing swing at her face, found himself suddenly facing the blank wall. He just enough time to register what had happened to tuck into a roll to avoid those wicked talons from slashing open his back.

Coming up in a crouch, he brought his arm up in time to catch another slash across his metal forearm. Knocking her arm away, he clapped his hands and ducked down under her next slash to slap the ground as he dove past her, bringing a section of the flagstones up in a sharp spike that managed to catch her in the stomach. Springing to his feet Ed ignored the scream of rage and pain from his opponent and slapped the ground again sending a more complex array flashing across the floor. The stones ground together and rearranged themselves into a complex cage around the Homunculus, who snarled at him before swiping her claws across the spike that protruded through her stomach clear out through her back. Ed swore as she sliced through the stone as if it was butter and proceeded to do the same thing to his cage before coming after him again. He sidestepped her next swing and brought his metal leg up to drive his boot solidly into her midriff noticing as he did so that she had already regenerated. His kick sent her flying but one of her extended fingers shot through his shoulder, sending pain shooting through his chest. He managed to flip backwards, pulling free of her spike and coming to his feet just as she did the same from where she had hit the wall. "What did you do to Mustang you monster?" he yelled, ignoring the blood that now dripped off the fingers of his flesh arm. Lust merely smirked at him as she licked the blood from the claw she had stabbed him with.

"Now, now Fullmetal no need to be rude." she drawled, sauntering towards them as if they were merely having a friendly chat, "The Flame Colonel decided to take offence to my perforating his little subordinate so I had to neutralise him." he dodged as she shot the spikes on her right hand at him with a snarl, springing forward under her guard to slash at her ribs as he tumbled past.

Unfortunately the angle that he flipped out at meant that the arm he would have to use to spring back to his feet was his flesh one but when he pushed off from the ground the shoulder crumpled sending him sprawling with a yelp of pain. He scrambled into a crouch, holding his useless arm against his chest, just as another set of claws slashed at him causing him to leap backwards ending up in a heap again. He brought his arm up to block the next attack but it never came as Lust was hit from behind by a giant fireball. He turned in amazement to see a ragged Colonel standing in the doorway. He had his hand pressed to his side that looked as though it was covered by a huge burn. His other he held out before him with what looked like a lighter pointed at the burning Homunculus. The man was smoking slightly, dripping wet and looked as mad as hell.

The flames around Lust flickered then died and her burned skin regrew with a flash of red light, "Really Mustang, your memory must be atrocious." she mocked as she stalked towards him, completely ignoring Ed where he sprawled on the floor behind her. "If your flames didn't work before what makes you think they will work no..." she was cut off as mustang struck the flint on the lighter again, sending another bout of flame at her. Then another. Then another. Ed watched in horrified fascination as the burning monster continued to stalk towards the Colonel, her flesh burning off and regenerating over and over and over again. Mustangs face never changed expression, the cold look of fury never left his eyes and Ed shivered in shock, but as he watched he noticed that each time the flames hit the homunculus they did more and more damage and each time she regenerated it took more time. Finally she stopped moving and hissed, "So this is it." and shot out her forefinger claw at the Colonel, who merely struck the flint again. The spike stopped less than an inch from the Colonel's right eye as the Homunculus caught fire once again but this time there was no flash of red light, no regrowing of burnt flesh. The two of them stood frozen for several seconds before a soft sigh sounded and Lust crumbled into ash.

Ed stared at the pile in disbelief then scrambled to his feet as the Colonel groaned and swayed on his feet. Before he could go to him however there was a slow clapping from across the room and Ed turned to find that the elder Malfoy had managed to get himself loose from the stone hand. The man smirked and toyed with his wand as he too looked at the ash pile, "Well done Alchemist, it looks as though those abominations can be killed after all and the both of you certainly did put on a good show."

Ed flickered a look from Mustang to Hawkeye then back to the wizard. The three of them were not in good shape, all of them wounded and from what he could hear there were more wizards coming. The smirk on Malfoys face confirmed it and he snarled to himself before acting. There was no time to think. Clapping his hands, he slapped them on the floor, already tucking himself in a roll to avoid the spell that the wizard threw at him, coming up in a crouch he clapped again and sent out another array, before the first one had even done its work and sprung up to sprint over to where Hawkeye lay just as Mustang reached her as well. As soon as they were close enough together he clapped again and slapped his hands to the ground smirking as he watched his handy work.

The first array flashed up the wall to seal over the door as if it has never even been there, the next slapped four stone walls around Malfoy while the third shot the three of them towards the roof on a huge stone column. Once they reached the ceiling, Ed slapped his hands to the roof and they shot up out into open air. Not stopping to check the others, Ed slapped his hands down once more and sent out an array he had created to disrupt magical energy. The blue flash of the array actually spread out across the whole yard around the mansion, using the spell energy it was supposed to disrupt to actually power itself, making it big enough to hit the wards around the property. Ed heard Mustang swear behind him as a huge flash of multicoloured light domed over the building signally the failure of the wards. As soon as it faded Ed pulled the portkey out of his pocket he'd had the Headmaster make for him and grabbed the other two before pressing the small switch on the top if the flat coin that activated it. He had discussed it with the Headmater about creating one that did not need magic to activate or a timer and this is what he had come up with. There came the usual nauseating yank in their midsection before the three of them vanished.

As soon as everything came back into focus Ed sighed in relief to find them at the gates to the school. The Colonel stumbled against him and Ed helped lower him to the ground before slumping down beside him and the two of them pulled back Hawkeyes uniform to check her injuries. The puncture wounds were deep and bled sluggishly but none of them seemed to have hit anything vital. With a sigh of relief, Ed turned the Lieutenant's jacket into a strip of bandage and with the Colonel's help managed to bind her wounds. The portkey he had used had a built in alarm so he knew that someone would be there shortly, they just had to make sure that she did not bleed out before they arrived.

Sure enough, just as they tied off the strip, once of the school carriages with it's weird horse creatures arrived and the Headmaster himself climbed out of it to open the gates for them. Ed slumped in relief and let the old man take over as, without a word, he waved his hand setting Hawkeye floating into the carriage. Ed and Mustang managed to climb in under their own power and once they reached the school managed to make it to the hospital wing before both of them collapsed onto the beds indicated to them by the medi witch. Ed noticed that the bed across from him held a figure with red hair but before he could inquire, a potion was pushed into his hand and he was soon watching the back of his eyelids as the world drifted away from his consciousness.


End file.
